Mental health service use among 18-year-old adolescent boys: a prospective 10-year follow-up study.
OBJECTIVE
To study prevalence and factors associated with mental health service use among 18-year-old adolescent boys.


METHODS
Predictors at age 8 and factors at age 18 associated with mental health service use during the preceding 12 months were studied in a general population sample of 2,316 Finnish boys born in 1981 attending military call-up (79% of the original sample).


RESULTS
Within the preceding 12 months, 2.1% of the boys had used mental health services. At age 18, internalizing, anxious-depressive, and withdrawal symptoms; health problems; not living with parents; use of illicit drugs; high level of alcohol use; and regular smoking were independently associated with service use. At age 8, a high level of emotional and behavioral symptoms, need for referral, and low school performance according to teacher evaluations predicted service use 10 years later.


CONCLUSIONS
Only a minority of adolescents with severe problems had used mental health services. Because of the wide range of problems and comorbidity among service users, there is a need for integration of different services. Education services have a central role in the early detection of those who will later use mental health services.
Sourander
Andre
A
Department of Child Psychiatry, Turku University Hospital, Finland. andre.sourander@utu.fi
MultimAki
Petteri
P
Santalahti
Päivi
P
Parkkola
Kai
K
Haavisto
Antti
A
Helenius
Hans
H
Nikolakaros
Georgios
G
Piha
Jorma
J
Tamminen
Tuula
T
Moilanen
Irma
I
Kumpulainen
Kirsti
K
Aronen
Eeva T
ET
Linna
Sirkka-Liisa
SL
Puura
Kaija
K
Almqvist
Fredrik
F
D000293:Adolescent; D015897:Comorbidity; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index