As with the psychology meta-narrative, Meyer’s (2003) Minority Stress Theory was the dominant way in which LGBTQ+ youth mental health was conceptualized and the concept of youth was again under-theorised. AFFIRM an intervention aimed at trans youth and coping skills (Craig & Austin, 2016) and Rainbow SPARX, https://www.safeproject.us/resource/latinx/ an online CBT programme aimed at sexual minority youth and depression (Lucassen, Merry, Hatcher, & Frampton, 2015). In the psychology meta-narrative, the individual is the key object of study with the central aim to affect cognitive/behaviour change for individual LGBTQ+ youth. Stage 2 of the synthesis compared the key dimensions across the research paradigms to generate a higher order theoretical understanding of how and why interventions/services might work.
Patterns of Student Treatment Attendance and Dropout in an Urban School-Based Mental Health Program
Therapy for Latinx is an online database making mental health professionals more accessible to Latinx people in their own communities. Their mission is to offer “education, resources, and support” to Black women to help them live “mentally healthy lives.” Their mission is rooted in “research, focus group findings, and personal experiences,” illuminating the under-served and underrepresented mental health necessities of young Black women. Since 2008, when July was first declared as National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, this month is a time to recognize unique issues regarding mental health and substance use disorders among minority communities, and to destigmatize mental illness amongst minority groups.
Black mental health resources
With respect to children and adolescents with disabilities, Yang et al. highlighted the importance of physical activity in quality of life. This statewide comprehensive approach provides an opportunity to build a system of care for all young people in California with a strong focus on equity, including supporting and developing strategies for communities of color, low-income families, LGBTQ+ individuals, and communities with elevated rates of adverse childhood experiences. We were not doing enough to integrate the mental health care system with the rest of the health care system, and we were not doing enough to prevent, not just treat, this crisis. We were not doing enough as a country to build and maintain a sufficient and diverse mental health care workforce. As COVID-19 continues into its third year, the impact on children and young people’s mental health and well-being continues to weigh heavily. Our study also had notable strengths, including that the focus groups were conducted as part of a long-standing community- academic partnership with the District.
The majority of youth included in the study were female (55.5%) and Latinx (67.4%), with the average age being 19 years old. Ultimately, 183 out of 335 programs responded to the survey, with 76 of those programs reporting having peer providers as part of their staff. What qualified as “serious mental illness” was defined by the state of California, and diagnoses of youth included in the study were ‘”schizophrenia,” “bipolar disorder,” and “major depressive disorder.”
Similarly, reliability and validity of the instruments used to measure factors related to mental health service use were tested or reported in 12 (37.5%) and seven (21.9%) studies, respectively. Over half of the studies were conducted at the community or school level, five (15.6%) analyzed administrative or electronic heath record data from one or more health agencies, five (15.6%) reported findings for nationally representative samples, and two (6.3%) were conducted at the state level. Further, 25 studies with service use as the outcome were excluded because they did not examine facilitators or barriers to mental health service use. To make sure minority adolescents receive timely treatment and recover from mental disorders, effective interventions are essential to engage and retain them in treatment. Even if they do receive treatment, minority adolescents are more likely to terminate treatment prematurely. Although effective treatments are available to help adolescents manage their mental health disorders, most adolescents with mental disorders do not receive proper treatments (7, 8).
- While our society is becoming more inclusive of gender and sexual minorities, children and youth who do not fulfil these roles or expectations still experience oppression and discrimination.
- Although the field has called for additional research in understanding disparities in internalizing disorders among racial and ethnic minority youth (Anderson & Mayes, 2010), minimal progress has been achieved in the five year interim.
- TMH becomes increasingly more cost effective with a larger volume of patients, more usage, and longer travel to care; the minimal volume for savings is estimated around 250 consultations (76).
- There is no general age of consent to treatment or counselling; instead, the issue depends on whether the young person is capable of consenting.
Native American mental health resources
At the contextual and structural level, low household income and lack of insurance were key barriers to mental health service use among minority adolescents. Specialty mental health clinics should also strengthen their relationship and service coordination with other healthcare providers (e.g., primary care physicians, pediatricians, school counselors) to facilitate client referral. Such parental distress, if handled improperly, can lead to disrupted family dynamics and thereby unrecognized mental health service needs among minority adolescents.