Specialty mental health services in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas: 1983 and 1990.

This paper provides information about the changes between 1983 and 1990 in the availability and volume of specialty mental health services in counties with different levels of metropolitanization and urbanization. The analysis uses the 1983 county metropolitan and urbanization designations for both 1983 and 1990 in order to obtain an accurate determination of the changes that occurred in the 7-year period. The results indicate that during the study period, metropolitan counties experienced increasing availability of specialty mental health services, while nonmetropolitan counties did not. Implications for future rural mental health policy are discussed.