User:Clarissa Velez/Child psychotherapy

Rates of Mental Health Service Use In Youth

In Western countries, only about 25-56% of all youth with mental health disorders receive professional services (Reardon et al., 2017). Youth who identify as racial and ethnic minorities face significantly more barriers to accessing effective, professional treatment for their mental health problems—mirroring the same health disparities that are seen in medical care settings (Flores, 2010). These added barriers result in racial and ethnic minority youth being less likely to seek professional help for their mental health concerns (Huey & Jones, 2013). Moreover when they do reach out, they often do not receive adequate or appropriate care (Huey & Jones, 2013).

Mental health services are accessed by youth across a variety of settings, with 22.10% of youth who are at risk for or who have been diagnosed with a mental disorder utilizing school-based mental health services (Duong et al., 2020). This is particularly important because knowledge about rates of service use informs policies, laws, and initiatives, such as federal funding for training school staff on mental health problems and providing school-based mental health services (Duong et al., 2020).

The minority stress in LGBTQ youth also leads to worse mental health outcomes; research shows that LGBTQ youth who experience suicidal thoughts or attempts are less likely to seek help in comparison to heterosexual youth with depression or anxiety (Lytle et al., 2014; Dürrbaum & Sattler, 2020). Some of the reasons for the lack of help-seeking include but are not limited to stigma or fear of discrimination, but research suggests that LGBTQ youth who seek professionals have better mental health outcomes (for example, fewer suicide attempts) than those who do not (Lytle et al., 2014; Dürrbaum & Sattler, 2020).

Decreasing Barriers to Mental Health Service

The mental health field is beginning to develop more accessible and feasible mental health treatments to close the need-access gap for youth who hold marginalized identities (Schleider et al., 2020). An abundance of new research supports the use of the Internet and other technologies to deliver mental health interventions to a wider population at significantly lower costs (Boydell et al., 2014). Moreover, these technologies can also be used to disseminate information and education about mental health, in addition to presenting avenues for the prevention of psychopathology (Boydell et al., 2014). A recent review found that interventions can be delivered effectively and comprehensively, with younger individuals and families showing a preference for technological interventions over face-to-face interventions (Boydell et al., 2014). Research has also supported that single session interventions for anxiety and disruptive behavior problems are a new, cost-effective approach to address youth’s mental health needs; however, more research needs to be done to confirm whether or not this is an effective approach for youth depression (Schleider et al., 2020).