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The Effects of Organizational Culture on Mental Health Service Engagement of Transition Age Youth

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Abstract

Nationwide, there is a growing concern in understanding mental health service engagement among transition age youth. The ecological perspective suggests that there are multiple barriers to service engagement which exist on varying levels of the ecosystem. Based on the socio-technical theory and organizational culture theory, this study examined the impact of organization-level characteristics on perceived service engagement and the moderating role of organizational culture on practitioner-level characteristics affecting youth service engagement. A cross-sectional survey research design was used to address the research questions. The data were collected from 279 practitioners from 27 mental health service organizations representing three major metropolitan areas in Ohio. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to address a nested structure. Findings revealed that location of organization, service setting, and organizational culture had significant effects on the continuation of services. In addition, the relationship between service coordination and resource knowledge and service engagement was moderated by organizational culture.

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Acknowledgments

This project was funded by the Ohio Department of Mental Health, under grant number ODMH 10.1260.

Conflict of Interest

There are no conflicts of interest declared.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Welfare, Dongguk University-Gyeongju, 123 Dongdae-ro Gyeongju-si, Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk, Republic of Korea, 780-714

    HyunSoo Kim PhD

  2. Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Elizabeth M. Tracy PhD, David E. Biegel PhD & Meeyoung O. Min PhD

  3. Silver School of Social Work, New York University, New York, NY, USA

    Michelle R. Munson PhD

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  1. HyunSoo Kim PhD
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Correspondence to HyunSoo Kim PhD.

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Kim, H., Tracy, E.M., Biegel, D.E. et al. The Effects of Organizational Culture on Mental Health Service Engagement of Transition Age Youth. J Behav Health Serv Res 42, 466–485 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-014-9406-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-014-9406-y

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