Date of Award

Summer 8-1-2004

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Communication Disorders and Counseling, School, and Educational Psychology

First Advisor

Lisa Bischoff

Second Advisor

Christy L. Coleman

Third Advisor

Connie Wilson

Abstract

Public schools and community health organizations have created partnerships to provide mental health services to children. One such collaboration has led to the development of School-Based Health Centers (SBHC). SBHC provide mental health services in an attempt to enhance students' development and performance. The research findings regarding SBHC impact on school performance are mixed (Gall, Pagano, Desmond, Perrin, & Murphy, 2000; McCord, Klein, Foy, & Fothergill, 1993; Weist, Proescher, Freedman, Paskewitz, & Flaherty, 1995; Wolk & Kaplan, 1993 ). The purpose of this research study was to determine if the frequency of use of mental health services at SBHC are related to differences in school performance and family characteristics. Participants included students in the 3rd , 4t\ and 5th grade who attended mental health treatment sessions at SBHC. School performance was measured by reading grades, mathematic grades, behavior referral rate, and absence rate. Family characteristics were defined as family composition, race, language spoken at home, parent/guardian employment, and eligibility for free/reduced lunch. The results indicated that all markers of school performance and family characteristics were not statistically significant in relation to the frequency of mental health treatment at the SBHC. Thus, the frequency of mental health treatment at SBHC was not predictive of the 5th six-week markers of school performance when the 1st sixweek markers of school performance were held constant.

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