Access to Health Care and Mental Health Among Latino Students in San Diego

Purpose: Depression during adolescence has important consequences, and Latino adolescents face different mental health challenges compared with peers from other ethnic groups. In this article we investigate whether access to a primary care physician affects the mental health of Latino high school students. Methods: Our data are drawn from a unique sample survey conducted in San Diego County in 2016. Classrooms were randomly selected from six area high schools, and students currently attending school were recruited to complete the survey in class. Self-reported depression screener (Patient Health Questionnaire-2) and loneliness were collected as outcome variables, and access to a primary care physician was the main independent variable. Results: Our multilevel logistic regression linking access to a physician and being at risk for major depression resulted in an odds ratio (OR) of 0.316 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.184–0.544), whereas the multilevel logistic regression relating access to a physician and feeling lonely resulted an OR of 0.371 (95% CI: 0.215–0.639). Conclusion: This study provides evidence from a novel setting to demonstrate the link between mental health and access to health services within a minority population. Because many of the Latino adolescents in our sample come from mixed status families, this finding is particularly important in the current policy climate of the United States, in which the future of access to health care for many immigrant families is highly uncertain.