A new national study reveals persistent racial and ethnic disparities in adolescent mental health care, particularly in access to outpatient, school-based, and telemental health services. Drawing on data from over 23,000 adolescents, researchers found that non-Hispanic White teens were significantly more likely to receive mental health treatment than their peers from minority backgrounds.
Only 21.9% of non-Hispanic Black adolescents and 25.6% of Hispanic adolescents reported receiving any mental health visit, compared to 31.7% of White adolescents. The gap was even wider in telemental health, where just 8.1% of Asian, Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander adolescents accessed services, versus 17.0% of White adolescents.
Prescription medication use followed a similar pattern. While 17.4% of White adolescents received psychotropic medications, the rate dropped to 7.9% for Black adolescents and 3.9% for Asian, Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander adolescents. These disparities persisted even after adjusting for income, insurance, and health status.
Interestingly, support groups and peer support services showed little to no racial or ethnic differences in use. This suggests that community-based, non-clinical approaches may offer more equitable access points for mental health care.
Among adolescents with a history of major depressive episodes, the disparities were even more pronounced. Black teens were 20.7 percentage points less likely than White peers to have had a mental health visit, and 20.1 percentage points less likely to receive medication.
These findings underscore the urgent need to address systemic barriers and expand culturally responsive care for minority youth.
See: “Racial and Ethnic Differences in Mental Health Service Use Among Adolescents” (June 18, 2025)
