Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
School of Social Work
Document Type
Dissertation
Abstract
Youth mental health is a global and national public health issue, with notable disparities in access to school-based mental health services (SBMHS; Kieling et al., 2024). This highlights the urgent need to identify supportive factors that can enhance service availability within educational settings. This cross-sectional, exploratory-descriptive study aimed to identify multi-level support-related factors (SRFs) at the student, school, and community levels that best predict SBMHS availability across different types of U.S. public high schools. The researcher conducted a secondary data analysis of a sample of 855 respondents who completed the 2017-18 School Survey on Crime and Safety. Various univariate, bivariate, and multivariate statistical analyses were conducted. The analysis characterized schools as low or high performing and examined how SRFs, such as student engagement (SE) activities, staff training (ST) opportunities, and parent/community (PC) involvement, vary across these categories. Binary logistic regression models estimated the associations between SRFs and the likelihood of schools offering comprehensive SBMHS, with separate models for low- and high-performing schools. Results identified several key multi-level SRFs as significant predictors of SBMHS availability, with distinct patterns across school types. These findings highlight the important role of microsystem and mesosystem influences in expanding mental health resources within schools, including behavioral modification, restorative circles, community integration programs, mental health interventions training, and juvenile justice and mental health agency involvement. Interestingly, safety training was negatively associated with SBMHS availability. The study provides implications for future social work research and social work practice in high school settings.
Date
8-20-2025
Recommended Citation
Wilson, Wendy L., "Examining Multi-Level Support-Related Factors Influencing School-Based Mental Health Services Across Various Types of U.S. Public High Schools" (2025). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 6900.
https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/6900
Committee Chair
Lemieux, Catherine M.