Editorial: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Racial Disparities in Pediatric Mental Health

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a devastating impact on youth mental health concerns, with rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidality doubling.(1) With 1 in 5 youth now experiencing a mental health disorder, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the Children’s Hospital Association, and the US Surgeon General have all declared a national state of emergency in child and adolescent mental health.(2,3) Although youth mental health has declined overall since the onset of the pandemic, racial minority youth have been disproportionately negatively impacted. Unfortunately, racial disparities in youth mental health have been a long-standing concern, and the impact of COVID-19 has only served to worsen this gap.(2) This is consistent with broader population health trends observed throughout the pandemic across age groups, where a higher proportion of racial and ethnic minorities have experienced poverty, violence, educational and vocational disruptions, and poorer health outcomes, including COVID-19−related hospitalizations and deaths.(3,4)