Citation

Bevilacqua K, Schneider S, Rasul R, Taioli E, Schwartz RM. J. Community Psychol. 2019; 47(4): 743-756.

Affiliation

Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/jcop.22150

PMID

30597560

Abstract

The Rockaways area of New York City was especially devastated by Hurricane Sandy. This study examined participant characteristics associated with acceptance of a linkage to and attendance at appointments for mental health difficulties (MHD). Participants (N = 1,011) completed questionnaires to assess mental health symptoms. Participants who met screening criteria (n = 442) were offered linkage to care. Individuals who had a higher mental health symptom burden (MHSB; i.e., those who screened in on more than one criteria vs. only one criterion) had 2.68 greater odds of accepting services (95% confidence interval [1.68, 4.26]). MHSB was not associated with attending a first appointment (p = 0.80). Female gender and Hispanic ethnicity were also associated with acceptance of linkage to care, though not attendance. Reducing stigma around MHD associated with natural disasters and increasing knowledge about the mental health care system could promote help-seeking behavior among survivors.

© 2018 The Authors Journal of Community Psychology Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Language: en