Rethinking Racial Matching in Children's Mental Health: The Need for Racially Conscious Therapists.

Abstract

In a given year, 1 in 6 youth will experience a mental health disorder.¹ Prevalence data reveal that anxiety (9.4%), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (9.8%), and behavior problems (8.9%) are the most common mental disorders in youth.² With the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, psychiatric needs skyrocketed because of factors such as isolation from social networks, disruption in routines, reduction in physical activities, and increased social media use.³ As a result, symptoms of depression and anxiety doubled and suicide attempts rose, which illuminated the mental health crisis among children and adolescents.^4,5 More concerning, this trend has had a disproportionate impact on racially minoritized communities, who also had to grapple with significant compounding stressors related to inequitable health care access, police brutality, xenophobia, and more.⁶ For instance, exposure to personal and indirect racial discrimination through channels such as social media resulted in elevated worry and stress among Black and Asian American youth.⁶ Furthermore, across different racial groups, the percentage of youth injured from a suicide attempt only increased for Black youth from 2019 to 2021.⁷ Despite these needs, mental health service use rates among racially minoritized youth remain low compared to those of their White counterparts. Moreover, once and if care is provided, racially minoritized youth report poorer quality services, contributing to premature termination and unmet mental health needs.⁸ Thus, strategies that promote racially minoritized youths' engagement in services are warranted to address mental health inequities.