TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2018//
TI  - Characteristics of school-based health services associated with students' mental health
JO  - Journal of health services research and policy
A1  - Denny, Simon
A1  - Howie, Hamish
A1  - Grant, Sue
A1  - Galbreath, Ross
A1  - Utter, Jennifer
A1  - Fleming, Theresa
A1  - Clark, Terryann
SP  - 7
EP  - 14
VL  - 23
IS  - 1
N2  - OBJECTIVE School-based health services (SBHS) have been shown to improve access to mental health services but the evidence of their effectiveness on students' mental health is lacking. Our objective was to examine associations between variation in the provision of SBHS and students' mental health. <br><br>METHODS A cross-sectional analysis of a nationally representative health and well-being survey of 8500 New Zealand high school students conducted in March-November 2012. Students' mental health is related to data on school health services obtained from clinic leaders and clinicians from 90 participating high schools. <br><br>RESULTS After adjustment for socio-demographic differences in students between schools, increasing levels of services were associated with progressively lower levels of student-reported depressive symptoms (p = 0.002), emotional and behavioural difficulties (p = 0.004) and suicidality (p = 0.008). Services with greater levels of nursing hours (p = 0.02) and those that performed routine, comprehensive psychosocial assessments (p = 0.01) were both associated with lower levels of student-reported depressive symptoms. Greater levels of nursing hours and doctor hours were associated with lower self-reported suicidality among students. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS Although a causal association between school-based health services and students' mental health cannot be demonstrated, these findings support the benefit of such services and the need for a cluster randomized trial.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1355-8196
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1355819617716196
ID  - ref1
ER  -