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Dissertation 2017.pdf (2.06 MB)

ETD Abstract Container

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Neighborhood Disorganization, Social Support, Substance Use and Functioning amongst Adolescents: An Analysis of the Ohio Behavioral Health Juvenile Justice Initiative

Rice, Heather Marie
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9017-9873
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1499463442029744

Abstract Details

2017, Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, Nursing.
Juvenile delinquency is a serious public health concern that places adolescents at risk for poor academic performance, violence, aggression and teen pregnancy. Approximately 70% of juveniles in the United States legal system also struggle with some form of mental health or substance abuse disorder and most juvenile courts are ill-equipped to manage these adolescent’s complex needs. Diversion programs provide an alternative to the formal court processing and redirect offenders through programming, supervision and intensive family therapy. The purpose of this study was to develop a path model examining the relationships and identifying whether neighborhood disorganization, social support, substance use and depressive symptoms were predictors of functioning in a sample of adolescents involved in the juvenile justice system. The study also determined whether social support mediated the relationship between neighborhood disorganization and functioning and neighborhood disorganization and substance use. This project is guided by Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Transactional Theory of Human Behavior and focuses on key factors nested within the microsystem (functioning, substance use), mesosystem (social support) and exosystem (neighborhood disorganization). This descriptive correlational study is a secondary analysis of the Ohio Behavioral Health Juvenile Justice Initiative (BHJJ), a diversion program for 10-18 year old delinquents with mental health issues and behavioral problems. The subsample (n=408) was comprised of Ohio youth who completed the Youth Information Questionnaire (YIQ) at intake between 2006-2007. The sample was primarily white, male with a mean age of 15 years old. Measures included: Substance-Use Survey-Revised (ever trying tobacco, alcohol or marijuana), Youth Information Questionnaire (social support), Ohio Youth Problem, Functioning and Satisfaction Scale (functional capacity), Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (depressive symptoms) and neighborhood disorganization (levels of neighborhood disorder at the zip code level). Parental social support was the strongest predictor of functioning followed by race, age and ever-trying marijuana. Parental and peer social support were not found to be mediators between neighborhood disorganization and functioning and neighborhood disorganization and substance use. Nurses have a unique opportunity to provide comprehensive assessments that identify these youth early, provide health education and evidence-based interventions that encourage parental engagement and social support.
Carol Musil (Committee Chair)
Jeff Kretschmar (Committee Member)
Camille Warner (Committee Member)
Marguerite (Peg) DiMarco (Committee Member)
166 p.
Health Care; Mental Health; Nursing
Adolescents; Mental Health; Juvenile Justice; Social Support; Substance Use; Functioning

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Rice, H. M. (2017). Neighborhood Disorganization, Social Support, Substance Use and Functioning amongst Adolescents: An Analysis of the Ohio Behavioral Health Juvenile Justice Initiative [Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1499463442029744

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Rice, Heather. Neighborhood Disorganization, Social Support, Substance Use and Functioning amongst Adolescents: An Analysis of the Ohio Behavioral Health Juvenile Justice Initiative. 2017. Case Western Reserve University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1499463442029744.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Rice, Heather. "Neighborhood Disorganization, Social Support, Substance Use and Functioning amongst Adolescents: An Analysis of the Ohio Behavioral Health Juvenile Justice Initiative." Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1499463442029744

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

case1499463442029744
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© 2017, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies and OhioLINK.