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Black Adolescent Experiences with COVID-19 and Mental Health Services Utilization

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 is disproportionately impacting communities of color. Black adolescents are among the most vulnerable to COVID-19, have high mental health service needs, and have low mental health services utilization. During this time of great physical threat due to COVID-19, it is equally imp...

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Autor principal: Banks, Andrae
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer International Publishing 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8080856/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33909283
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40615-021-01049-w
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author Banks, Andrae
author_facet Banks, Andrae
author_sort Banks, Andrae
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description BACKGROUND: COVID-19 is disproportionately impacting communities of color. Black adolescents are among the most vulnerable to COVID-19, have high mental health service needs, and have low mental health services utilization. During this time of great physical threat due to COVID-19, it is equally important to understand and support the mental health of Black adolescents. METHOD: This study collected open-ended survey item responses from adolescents (12–17 years old) that identified as Black, living in a city in the Southeastern United States (n = 33). Grounded theory was used to analyze the data, revealing details of the lived experience of these Black adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS: Black adolescents reported that COVID-19 has been both positive and negative for them. Family is of utmost importance to them, as are their peers, whom they do not get to interact with due to changes in the operation of schools. Despite experiencing stress, adaptive responses to COVID-19 are reported. Black adolescents continue to cite issues with mental health services and providers. Financial issues were a common theme for these youth, blocking access to services and causing issues in the home environment. CONCLUSIONS: Mental health service providers must address the service access and quality issues repeatedly reported by Black adolescents. Direct action must be taken to facilitate an increase in Black adolescents mental health services utilization and satisfaction. Changes are needed at the individual and macro levels to alter the experience of one of our most vulnerable groups. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40615-021-01049-w.
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spelling pubmed-80808562021-04-29 Black Adolescent Experiences with COVID-19 and Mental Health Services Utilization Banks, Andrae J Racial Ethn Health Disparities Article BACKGROUND: COVID-19 is disproportionately impacting communities of color. Black adolescents are among the most vulnerable to COVID-19, have high mental health service needs, and have low mental health services utilization. During this time of great physical threat due to COVID-19, it is equally important to understand and support the mental health of Black adolescents. METHOD: This study collected open-ended survey item responses from adolescents (12–17 years old) that identified as Black, living in a city in the Southeastern United States (n = 33). Grounded theory was used to analyze the data, revealing details of the lived experience of these Black adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS: Black adolescents reported that COVID-19 has been both positive and negative for them. Family is of utmost importance to them, as are their peers, whom they do not get to interact with due to changes in the operation of schools. Despite experiencing stress, adaptive responses to COVID-19 are reported. Black adolescents continue to cite issues with mental health services and providers. Financial issues were a common theme for these youth, blocking access to services and causing issues in the home environment. CONCLUSIONS: Mental health service providers must address the service access and quality issues repeatedly reported by Black adolescents. Direct action must be taken to facilitate an increase in Black adolescents mental health services utilization and satisfaction. Changes are needed at the individual and macro levels to alter the experience of one of our most vulnerable groups. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40615-021-01049-w. Springer International Publishing 2021-04-28 2022 /pmc/articles/PMC8080856/ /pubmed/33909283 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40615-021-01049-w Text en © W. Montague Cobb-NMA Health Institute 2021 This article is made available via the PMC Open Access Subset for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.
spellingShingle Article
Banks, Andrae
Black Adolescent Experiences with COVID-19 and Mental Health Services Utilization
title Black Adolescent Experiences with COVID-19 and Mental Health Services Utilization
title_full Black Adolescent Experiences with COVID-19 and Mental Health Services Utilization
title_fullStr Black Adolescent Experiences with COVID-19 and Mental Health Services Utilization
title_full_unstemmed Black Adolescent Experiences with COVID-19 and Mental Health Services Utilization
title_short Black Adolescent Experiences with COVID-19 and Mental Health Services Utilization
title_sort black adolescent experiences with covid-19 and mental health services utilization
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8080856/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33909283
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40615-021-01049-w
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