In a new study, researchers found that nearly 7.7 million children and teens in the country – about one in seven – have at least one treatable mental health disorder, including depression, anxiety or ADHD.
But half of these young people did not receive needed treatment from a mental health professional in 2016.
Untreated mental health disorders can have a debilitating impact on children’s healthful growth and throughout their transition to adulthood.
The research was conducted by a team at the University of Michigan.
They analyzed data from the 2016 National Survey of Children’s Health, which surveyed parents of children ages 17 and under.
Of the 46.6 million children included in the study, 16.5% had at least one mental health disorder.
The team found the prevalence of mental health conditions among youth and the gap in treatment varied widely by state.
Washington, D.C., for example, had the lowest prevalence of children left untreated (nearly 30%) while North Carolina had the highest percentage, with more than two-thirds of children not receiving needed treatment or counseling (72%).
Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Utah were also in the top quartile for the prevalence of children with a mental health disorder who did not receive needed treatment.
Meanwhile, the prevalence of mental disorders among kids ranged from 7.6 percent in Hawaii to 27.2 percent in Maine.
While further research is needed to explore reasons for geographical disparities, possible factors may include policy differences, socioeconomic factors, access-to-care issues or even parents’ individual decisions.
The lead author of the study is Daniel Whitney, Ph.D., a post-doctoral fellow with Michigan Medicine’s Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
The study is published in JAMA Pediatrics.
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