Racial/Ethnic Disparities in the Decision Points of Mental Health Service Use and Psychotropic Medication Receipt Among Depressed Youth

Abstract

Depression has been increasing rapidly and is prevalent among youth. Inadequate mental health service utilization for youth and relevant racial/ethnic disparities are a growing concern. The current study used a nationally representative database to examine racial/ethnic disparities in youth depression prevalence, mental health services utilization, and psychotropic medication receipt. The sequential examination shows that depressed minority youth (22%-30%) were not only much less likely to use specialty mental health services than depressed Caucasian and multiracial youth (40%-43%, p < .001), they were also much less likely to receive psychotropic medications (22%-30%) than their Caucasian and multiracial counterparts (38%-44%, p = .048 to <.001) when using specialty mental health services. The findings reveal possibly two levels of racial/ethnic disparities at the decision points of accessing specialty mental health services and subsequent treatment methods choice. Implications for mental health policies and practices are also discussed.