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Life circumstances and the use of mental health services

A five year follow-up

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Summary

The study is concerned with the connection between life circumstances, as examined from the viewpoint of the social support theory, and the use of mental health services. The material comprises 200 successive psychiatric patients from a mental health centre and a central mental hospital in Finland. The follow-up period was five years. — The results of the analysis of the use of mental health services according to marital status, employment status and changes in social relationships were in keeping with social support theory. In the out-patient material economic security and employment at the out-set of the study were the most important variables in predicting whether or not the patient used mental health services for more than one year. The strongest correlation in the in-patient material was between age and rehospitalization.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health, University of Tampere, Finland

    H. Nieminen

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  1. H. Nieminen
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Nieminen, H. Life circumstances and the use of mental health services. Soc Psychiatry 21, 123–128 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00582681

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00582681

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