Hotline Use in the United States: Results from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Hotline Use in the United States: Results from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys Kimberly B. Roth1 · Hannah S. Szlyk2 Accepted: 18 September 2020 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Crisis hotlines are a fixture in providing mental health services to individuals experiencing mental and behavioral problems in the United States (U.S.). Despite this, and the growing need for easily-accessible, anonymous, and free services amidst the suicide and opioid crises, there is no study reporting U.S. national prevalence and correlates of hotline use. Data on n = 18,909 participants from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys (CPES), a group of three nationally-representative, population-based studies, were used to estimate the prevalence of lifetime and past 12-month hotline use. A series of logistic regression models examined sociodemographic, clinical history and service use correlates of hotline use. Lifetime and past 12-month hotline use was estimated at 2.5% and 0.5%, respectively. Being female, having a mental or behavioral disorder, experiencing suicidality, or interacting with other formal and informal sectors of the mental health service system were significant correlates of use. This study provides the first national estimates of crisis hotline usage in the U.S. Hotlines are more likely to be used by certain sociodemographic subgroups, but these differences may be due to differing psychiatric history and service use patterns. Efforts should be made to ensure that crisis hotlines are being utilized by other marginalized populations at high risk of suicide or overdose amidst the current public health crises in the U.S., such as racial/ethnic minorities or youth. To evaluate the role that crisis hotlines play in the mental health service system, national surveys should aim to monitor trends and correlates over time. Keywords Crisis hotlines · Epidemiology · Mental disorders · Suicidality · Mental health services
Introduction Hotlines, also known as lifelines, crisis lines or call centers, provide crucial publicly-accessible pathways for linking individuals who are experiencing behavioral health crises with needed resources, and they offer opportunities for averting suicide attempts and deaths by drug overdose (Hom et al. 2015). In the United States (U.S.), many people who urgently need professional help for emotional and behavioral problems * Kimberly B. Roth [email protected] Hannah S. Szlyk [email protected] 1
Department of Community Medicine, Mercer University School of Medicine, 1250 E 66th Street, Savannah, Georgia 31404, United States
Rutgers, State University of New Jersey, School of Social Work, 390 George Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, United States
2
that include current suicidality and risk of overdose do not use formal behavioral health care services (Andrade et al. 2014; Corrigan and Watson 2002; Green et al. 2020; Kim et al. 2017). In 2018, 47.6 million U.S. adults reported living with a mental
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