Objective:
Prior work on racial/ethnic disparities in depression treatment has been limited by the scarcity of national samples that include an array of diagnostic and quality indicators and substantial non-English speaking minorities. Using nationally representative data (n=8762), we evaluate differences in access to and quality of depression treatments between ethnic/racial minority patients and non-Latino whites.
Method:
Access to mental health care was assessed by whether or not any mental health treatment was received in the past year. Quality treatment for acute depression was defined as four or more specialty/general health provider visits in the past year plus antidepressant use for 30 days or more; or eight or more specialty mental health provider visits of at least 30 minutes in length, with no antidepressant use.
Results:
For those with last year depressive disorder, 63.7% of Latinos, 68.7% of Asians and 58.8% of African Americans, vs. 40.2% of non-Latino whites, did not access any last year mental health treatment (significantly different at p<0.001). We also found that the disparities in the likelihood of both having access and receiving quality care for depression are significantly different for all minority groups as contrasted to non-Latino whites, except Latinos (marginally significant).
Conclusion:
Simply relying on present healthcare systems without considering the unique barriers to quality care that apply for ethnic and racial minorities is unlikely to affect the pattern of disparities observed. Populations reluctant to come to the clinic for depression care may have correctly anticipated the limited quality available in usual care.
Concerns and considerations have emerged as mental health professionals contemplate the provision of mental health treatment over the Internet. This paper identifies perceptions of online mental health treatment among a national sample of 2,098 social workers, psychologists, and other professionals. These professionals were unlikely to provide online mental health treatment, although some used the Internet as an adjunct to clinical practice. They noted specific concerns related to the provision of mental health treatment online, including confidentiality of client information and liability issues. We explore these issues and discuss implications for professionals who provide mental health treatment. 453
Youth with disabilities are considered a highly vulnerable population (Cohen & Warren, 1990;Govindshenoy & Spencer, 2007). Research indicates that children with disabilities are at heightened risk of victimization compared with those without disabilities (Kendall-Tackett, Lyon,
Using data from the Second Youth Internet Safety Survey, a nationally representative telephone survey of 1,500 youth Internet users (ages 10 to 17), this study explores differences in Internet use characteristics between high risk youth and other Internet users. Those youth who engaged in aggressive behavior online and those who used the Internet on a cell phone were about twice as likely to be classified as high risk (having experienced high parent conflict or child maltreatment) as compared to other Internet users. Those youth who talked with known friends online were significantly less likely to be included in the high risk group. Controlling for demographic and Internet use characteristics, youth who received an aggressive sexual solicitation were almost 2.5 times as likely to report experiencing physical abuse, sexual abuse or high parent conflict. Implications for prevention are discussed, including avenues for reaching high risk populations of youth.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.