Parent reported barriers to children’s mental health services in the United States

ABSTRACT This study provides the first nationally representative estimates of parent-reported barriers to mental health services for children with mental health conditions in the United States. It identifies individual, family, and environmental characteristics associated with the most common barriers to mental health care for children with common mental health disorders reporting the need for mental health services. Cost barriers, inconvenient service times, and lack of service availability or transportation barriers were the most reported barriers to mental health services. Children with more severe conditions reported these barriers at significantly higher rates than children with less severe conditions.