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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Ping Wu, PhD¹, Xinhua Liu, PhD², Cordelia J. Fuller, MS³, Bin Fan, MD⁴, and Pedro Laureano, PhD⁴. (1) Departments of Psychiatry and Epidemiology, Columbia University, 1051 Riverside Drive, Unit 43, New York, NY 10032, (212) 543-5190, pw11@columbia.edu, (2) Department of Biostatistics, Columbia University, 722 W 168 St., 6th Floor, New York, NY 10032, (3) Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, 1051 Riverside Drive, Unit 43, New York, NY 10032, (4) Child Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive, Unit 43, New York, NY 10032

This paper aims to examine disparities in service use for alcohol abuse/dependence among adolescents in the United States. Method: Data are from a national community survey of people ages 12 and over in the United States. There are 19,430 adolescents (ages 12-17) in the total sample, with about 5% (N=1,029) meeting criteria for alcohol abuse/dependence; this subsample is used in the analyses. Information about adolescents' alcohol use, abuse, dependence, use of other substances, psychopathology, and socio-demographic characteristics , was obtained in the survey. Among adolescents with alcohol abuse/dependence, only 10.2% had received any type of treatment for their alcohol related problems; 5.7% had received alcohol treatment in a specialized treatment facility. The types of treatment received by these adolescents are compared across four ethnic groups (White, African American, Hispanic and Other). Results show that the adolescents in the Others group were least likely to receive specialized treatment. Hispanic and Other adolescents' rates of being hospitalized, or receiving treatment in a substance use rehabilitation facility, were less than half of those for Whites. Also, immigrant adolescents were less likely to receive any type of alcohol treatment than those born in the US. Potential socio-demographic and service need factors associated with these differences will also be explored. The findings highlight the extent of unmet need for alcohol treatment among adolescents, particularly adolescents from some minority groups or from immigrant families, and the need to improve the service delivery system so that these adolescents can receive needed help.

Learning Objectives:

• Better understand patterns of service utilization among adolescents with alcohol abuse/dependence, and related ethnic/racial disparities.

Keywords: Alcohol Problems, Adolescents

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered