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Race/Ethnicity, Parent-Identified Emotional Difficulties, and Mental Health Visits Among California Children

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Abstract

Variability in mental health services utilization by race/ethnicity was evaluated with a Behavioral Model approach. Subjects were 17,705 children 5 to 11 years of age in the 2005, 2007, and 2009 California Health Interview Surveys. Parents identified minor emotional difficulties in 18.7% of these children (ranging from 14.8% in Asians to 24.4% in African Americans) and definite or severe difficulties in 7.4% (5.5% in Asians to 9.7% in “other race”). Overall, 7.6% of children had at least one mental health visit in the prior year (2.3% in Asians to 11.2% in African Americans). Parent-identified need was the most salient predictor of mental health visits for all racial/ethnic groups. Beyond need, no consistent patterns could be determined across racial/ethnic groups with regard to the relationship between contextual, predisposing, and enabling measures and mental health service utilization. Different factors operated for each racial/ethnic group, suggesting the need for studies to examine mental health need, mental health service use, and determinants by racial/ethnic subgroup. These findings suggest that a “one-size-fits-all approach” with regard to policies and practices aimed at reducing mental health disparities will not be effective for all racial/ethnic groups.

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Acknowledgments

The preparation of this article was supported in part by grant NIMH K01 MH077732‐01A1 (PI: Sigrid James) and by the Implementation Research Institute (IRI), at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis; through an award from the National Institute of Mental Health (R25 MH080916‐01A2) and the Department of Veterans Affairs, Health Services Research & Development Service, Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI).

Ron Andersen was supported by project EXPORT, NCMHD, P20MD000182 and received support from the University of California, Los Angeles, Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research Center for Health Improvement of Minority Elderly (RCMAR/CHIME) under NIH/NIA Grant P30‐AG021684

Conflict of Interest

The authors have declared that no conflict of interest exists.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Policy and Management, Loma Linda University School of Public Health, 24951 North Circle Drive, Loma Linda, CA, 92350, USA

    Jim E. Banta PhD, MPH

  2. Department of Social Work and Social Ecology, Loma Linda University School of Behavioral Health, Loma Linda, CA, 92350, USA

    Sigrid James PhD, MSW

  3. Department of Psychiatry, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, 1686 Barton Road, Box D, Redlands, CA, 92373, USA

    Mark G. Haviland PhD

  4. Department of Health Services, UCLA School of Public Health, Box 951772, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1772, USA

    Ronald M. Andersen PhD

Authors
  1. Jim E. Banta PhD, MPH
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  2. Sigrid James PhD, MSW
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  3. Mark G. Haviland PhD
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  4. Ronald M. Andersen PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jim E. Banta PhD, MPH.

Additional information

Portions of this study were presented at the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado, November 2010. Sigrid James received support from grant NIMH K01 MH077732-01A1. Ronald Andersen received support from Project EXPORT, NCMHD, P20MD000182 and the University of California, Los Angeles, Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research/Center for Health Improvement of Minority Elderly (RCMAR/CHIME) under NIH/NIA Grant P30-AG021684.

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Banta, J.E., James, S., Haviland, M.G. et al. Race/Ethnicity, Parent-Identified Emotional Difficulties, and Mental Health Visits Among California Children. J Behav Health Serv Res 40, 5–19 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-012-9298-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-012-9298-7

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