Adolescent utilization of school based mental health services in the United States

Abstract Background Over 14 million adolescents have a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder yet only 20% receive adequate mental health services. There is a critical need to identify accessible and effective pathways to treatment. School based mental health services (SBMHS) are an optimal setting for timely identification, effective management, and convenient delivery of evidence-based mental health care. Methods Using data from the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, we employed structural equation modeling to examine the relationships between utilization of SBMHS and school and academic engagement, religiosity, self-reported depressive symptoms, and parental monitoring and support. Results Higher levels of parental monitoring and support (ß = -0.044, p