Access to psycho-social services among pregnant and parenting teens: Generating questions using youth reports and GIS mapping techniques

Abstract

This is an exploratory study of receipt of psycho-social services within the health and mental health sectors among a small sample (n = 56) of pregnant and parenting teens. Utilizing conceptual frameworks of barriers to service and potential spatial accessibility, this study sought to demonstrate how mapping could contribute to analyzing issues such as access to care. Youth-reported negative neighborhood quality weakly predicted decreased likelihood of psycho-social service receipt, controlling for youth background, well-being and indicators of service accessibility. Geographic Information System (GIS) maps depicted variation in census tract proximity to services, with youth highest in need residing in tracts isolated from service providers. © 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.