Sokol, R., Clift, J., Mitchell, L., Martinez, J. J., & Rusnak, C. (2023). Students’ and caregivers’ attitudes and preferences toward screening for negative social determinants of health in a predominantly Latinx high school. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research. https://doi.org/10.1086/725701
Abstract
Objective: Social risk factors—the adverse social conditions associated with poor health—disproportionately burden Latinx adolescents. Screening youth for social risk factors and providing resources to help address needs is a widespread practice across healthcare. Schools, however, may be an ideal environment for universal social risk factor screening, especially for Latinx adolescents. The present research sought to assess Latinx students’ and caregivers’ attitudes towards, preferences for, and perceived benefits of and concerns with school-based social risk factor screening. Method: Data for this mixed-methods study came from a cross-sectional survey of students (N=539) and their caregivers (N=105) from a predominantly Latinx high school in Detroit, Michigan in Fall 2021. Results: Sixty-five percent of students and 78% of caregivers reported liking the idea of school-based social risk factor screening somewhat, quite a bit, or very much. Attitudes towards screening were not associated with the number of social risk factors reported among students (ρ=0.005, p=0.91) or caregivers (ρ=0.06, p=0.58). Perceived benefits included identifying students’ needs, fostering a caring school environment, and providing social and emotional support. Perceived concerns included invading privacy, causing embarrassment, taking time, and being a potential wasted effort. The preferred screening frequency among students and caregivers was once a month (41% and 53%, respectively), and the preferred format was online, completed at home. Conclusions: School-based social risk factor screening is a favorable practice for this urban, predominantly Latinx high school. Future social risk factor screening system developers and implementers—particularly within schools—should consider the screening benefits and concerns students and caregivers identified.
Keywords: social risk factors, school, adolescence, Latinx, screenin