부산대학교 도서관

A study was conducted to examine the factors influencing outpatient mental health service use by children in foster care. Data were obtained for 480 children who entered long-term foster care in San Diego County from May 1990 through October 1991, and these data were linked with claims data from Medicaid and the San Diego County Mental Health Services information systems. Findings revealed that apart from maltreatment history, all the other independent variables included in the multivariate regression model—age, race/ethnicity, gender, placement pattern, and behavioral problems—were statistically significant. It was noted that the total number of outpatient mental health visits increased with age, male gender, and non-relative foster placements; that visits were lower for Latinos and Asian/Others in comparison with Caucasians, but were comparable for African-Americans; and that children experiencing caretaker absence received fewer visits than did those not experiencing caretaker absence. The results suggest that clinical and nonclinical factors influence outpatient mental health use by foster children.