Does childhood mental health service use predict subsequent mental health service use during Latino youth transition to
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Does childhood mental health service use predict subsequent mental health service use during Latino youth transition to young adulthood? Evidence from the Boricua Youth Study Jennifer Greif Green1 · Rachel Oblath1 · Gerrit DeYoung1 · Kiara Álvarez2,3 · Ye Wang2 · Hector Bird4,5 · Glorisa Canino6 · Cristiane S. Duarte4 · Margarita Alegría2,7 Received: 16 June 2019 / Accepted: 11 March 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Purpose Studies document the substantial underutilization of mental health services by US Latinos in young adulthood. Rates of service use are higher in childhood, raising questions about whether mental health service use during childhood may facilitate access to services later in life. This article examines the extent to which utilization of mental health services in childhood is predictive of utilization in young adulthood among US Latinos. Methods Data come from the Boricua Youth Study, a longitudinal study of Puerto Rican youth at two sites (South Bronx, New York, and the standard metropolitan area of San Juan, Puerto Rico). Data were collected in three waves during childhood (ages 5–13; surveyed 1 year apart), with an approximately 11-year follow-up in young adulthood (ages 16–29). In childhood, parents reported on youth mental health service use (Waves 1–3). In Wave 4, as youth transitioned to young adults (N = 2004), they reported on their past year mental health service use. Results Whereas 30.2% of parents reported their child received mental health services, only 3.5% of young adults reported mental health service use in the past year. After controlling for young adult disorders and their severity, childhood disorders were associated with increased likelihood of mental health service use in young adulthood. Childhood mental health service use was also associated with young adult service use; however, this association attenuated when controlling for childhood disorders. Conclusion Findings suggest the importance of specifically considering childhood disorders in understanding mechanisms for improving access to mental health services among Latino young adults. Keywords Mental health · Service use · BYS · Latino · Young adult
* Jennifer Greif Green [email protected] 1
Wheelock College of Education and Human Development, Boston University, 2 Silber Way, Boston, MA 02215, USA
2
Disparities Research Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
3
Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
4
New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
5
Ponce Medical School, Ponce, PR, USA
6
Behavioral Sciences Research Institute, University of Puerto Rico Medical School, San Juan, PR, USA
7
Department of Medicine and Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
Introduction Research indicates that Latino children living in the United States have rates of unmet mental health need approximately two times higher than their Non-Latino White peer
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