Predictors of Mental Health Service Enrollment Among Juvenile Offenders

• Author: Ann Vander Stoep,David G. Stewart,Elena Kuo,Andy Lopez-Williams
• DOI: 10.1177/1541204006290159
• Published date: 01 July 2006
• Date: 01 July 2006
• Subject Matter: Articles

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PREDICTORS OF MENTAL HEALTH

SERVICE ENROLLMENT AMONG

JUVENILE OFFENDERS

Andy Lopez-Williams

Psychological Centers, Inc.

Ann Vander Stoep

Elena Kuo

University of Washington

David G. Stewart

Seattle Pacific University

The objective was to identify predictors of public mental health service enrollment

among detained juvenile offenders. A representative sample of 228 juvenile detainees

was interviewed with measures of psychological symptoms and impairment, associated

risk factors, and demographic variables. Logistic regression analyses determined how

the 110 youth enrolled in mental health services differed from the 118 youth not

enrolled. Main effects were found for age,gender, and number of prior detention stays

such that younger offenders, female offenders, and recidivists were more likely to have

received mental health services. Mental health status, level of functioning, and fre-

quency of substance use were not related to service enrollment. Race interacted with

mental health symptoms and recidivism such that Caucasians with greater numbers of

symptom elevations and prior detention stays were more likely to be enrolled in mental

health services, whereas symptom elevations and recidivism were not related to service

enrollment among African American offenders. Systematic assessment and referral

procedures may be a necessary step toward improving the likelihood that mental health

services are distributed to juvenile offenders on the basis of mental health need.

Keywords: juvenile offenders; mental health service enrollment; juvenile delinquency

A majority of detained adolescent offenders exhibit impairing levels of psychiatric

and substance use disorders (McCabe, Lansing, Garland, & Hough, 2002; Teplin, Abram,

McClelland, Dulcan, & Mericle, 2002). These disorders may contribute to the risk of a youth

coming into contact with the juvenile justice system (JJS) initially and persistently. Of those

detained adolescent offenders who meet criteria for psychiatric (including substance use) dis-

orders, somewhat less than 50% have ever received mental health services (Bilchik, 1998;

Authors’Note: Correspondence and reprint requests concerning this article should be addressed to Andy Lopez-

Williams, PhD, Center for ADHD and Disruptive Behavior Disorders, Psychological Centers, Inc., 765 Allens

Ave., Providence, RI 02905; e-mail:Andy.LopezWilliams@PsychologicalCenters.com.

Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, Vol. 4 No. 3, July 2006 266-280

DOI: 10.1177/1541204006290159

© 2006 Sage Publications