Minority mental health: Current barriers & finding support

In two studies, Asian Americans were found less likely to use any type of mental health service (25) and specialty services (33) than White adolescents. Specifically, compared with Whites, Blacks and African Americans were less likely to use any type of mental health service (13, 41, 47), specialty or outpatient services (e.g., therapy, counseling, psychopharmacological services) (29, 46, 47, 49), and school-based services (39, 46). In another 13 studies (40.6%), mental health problems were assessed in undiagnosed community-based samples of youth.

Patterns of Student Treatment Attendance and Dropout in an Urban School-Based Mental Health Program

These expansions help prevent the entry of children into state custody as a result of lack of coverage for mental illness and emotional disturbances by funding children to be treated in the community, as long as the cost of that care does not exceed the estimated cost of institutional care. Another study found poorer outcomes in preventing depression in African-American youth compared to white, Latino, and Asian youth in an intervention to increase optimism.81 For example, Bussing and colleagues77 found that in a special education population, minority children at risk for ADHD were twice as likely to not receive stimulant medication than non white children. In all studies, white children were at least two times more likely, if not more so, to https://www.safeproject.us/resource/latinx/ receive psychotropic medication than nonwhite children.

Ultimately, addressing the mental health needs of marginalized youth is not just about improving individual well-being—it’s about creating a more just and equitable society. For example, programs that involve local leaders and trusted figures within the community can reduce stigma and help young people feel more comfortable seeking help. Further investment in training educators and school staff to spot early signs of mental health struggles is crucial to prevent further escalation.

• The background for each paper was the marginalisation and stigmatisation of young LGBTQ+ ​lives, the impact this had on their mental health, the dearth of appropriate mental health support and the need for research to support the development of effective mental health provision.
• Historically marginalized groups experience healthcare disparities that may lead to several barriers to mental health care.
• In fact, research has shown that ethnic minorities do not seek mental health treatment until problems are severe (Burns et al., 2004; Crane, Ngai, Larson, & Hafen, 2005; Garland, Landsverk, & Lau, 2003).
• Researchers have more recently focused on ways stress “gets under the skin,”62 altering biology leading to mental health outcomes and disparities.

Making mental health and substance use services available to all

Also, Lasser et al78 found that in adolescents, visit rates per year to primary care providers or psychiatrists for mental health services were much lower for African Americans relative to whites for the same services, including psychotropic medication prescription. For example, one study demonstrated a successful implementation of a brief psychosocial intervention (individual psychotherapy) delivered by community-based clinicians in urban school-based health clinics serving minority students with depression.67 Others have looked beyond the issue of disparity, and focused more on intervention efficacy by attempting to recognize evidence-based treatments geared specifically to minority youth. Even when they are able to access care, minorities are significantly under treated compared to their white counterparts,57, 59 with linguistic minorities reporting worse care than English-speaking racial and ethnic minorities.60 At the same time, there have been vast increases in the number of school-aged children in the US who do not speak English well, or who are from families in which the adults do not speak English proficiently. Among regional studies, several studies by McCabe et al., Bui & Takeuchi53, 54; and Sue, Fujino, Hu, Takeuchi, Zane55 found white and black youth over-represented, and Latino youth under-represented across most treatment sectors, while Zahner and Daskalakis56 found black and Latino youth under-use services, after controlling for socioeconomic status. According to the Institute of Medicine Report1 minority youth are less likely to receive mental health care services compared to their non-Latino white counterparts.

Across the world, children and adolescents aged 6 The disproportionate experiences of grief and loss of family members are in addition to the higher rates of COVID-19 transmission in communities that have been historically marginalized, such as racial and ethnic minority groups, compared with non-Hispanic White communities.7 Moreover, a recent study found that social determinants of inequity worsened by the pandemic, including family structure, socioeconomic status, and the experience of racism, negatively affected the functioning of children, above and beyond other factors such as preexisting medical or mental conditions.8 The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the extent and severity of the mental health crisis on racial and ethnic minority, sexual and gender minority, and marginalized young people.4 Marginalized young people are children, adolescents, and young adults who have experienced economic, social, political, and cultural marginalization because of factors beyond their control, including poverty, discrimination, violence, trauma, dislocation, and disenfranchisement.5 Experiences of trauma and marginalization, among other factors, can place these young people at heightened risk for mental health difficulties later in life, too. According to the authors, “These findings highlight the need to improve mental health access for adolescents in minority racial and ethnic groups.”