Mental health problems in children and young people from minority ethnic groups: The need for targeted research

Abstract

In this editorial we argue for the need for better research evidence on the prevalence of child mental health problems in minority ethnic groups, service utilisation among these groups and whether some service barriers are specific for certain groups. Without such evidence it is not possible to influence policy and practice so that evidence-based and appropriate services can be designed and offered to these populations. The terms ethnicity, race and migration are often imprecisely defined, and mental health needs and outcomes vary between immigrants from different generations. There is also a complex interplay between minority status and social class, with terms such as ethnicity being a proxy for multifaceted sociocultural and economic variables. However, we need to start collecting better data on children from minority ethnic groups so that these relationships can be understood, services tailored on the available evidence and ultimately better care delivered to this group of children.

Identifying barriers to mental health help-seeking among young adults in the UK: a cross-sectional survey

“…Although the small sample size may impose some limitations on the quantitative results, efforts were made to recruit participants who are 'hard to reach' and the study was successful in recruiting participants from minority ethnic groups, who are often under-represented in mental health services 24 and research. 25 Although there was a higher than expected percentage of participants experiencing psychological distress than in the general population, 1 these young people are nonetheless those who are most likely to require access to mental health services. Therefore, their participation in the study, as well as input from participants from black and minority ethnic groups, provided some essential information about barriers to care.…”

Understanding the mental health needs of Chinese children living in the North East of England

“…Given the rapid growth of the ethnic minority communities (including the Chinese community) within the UK, it is essential to develop robust methodologies that enable the needs of these minority groups to be identified, so that accurate data about the different ethnic subgroups can then inform the development of relevant public health education and culturally acceptable national health services (Dogra et al, 2012).…”

Students ' understandings of mental health and their preferred learning platforms

“…The data also indicated that white Other and white British students were more likely to report they were "not interested" in learning more about mental health than Indian students. Dogra et al (2012b) found that young people of Indian ethnicity had lower prevalence for mental health problems than white adolescents, so it could be useful to understand such cultural variances when developing psycho-education programmes.…”

“…During short local workshops, the current authors found that children offered a range of ideas of what being mentally healthy meant (Dogra et al, 2012b;Svirydzenka et al, 2014). The rationale for the current research project, therefore, was to generate wider knowledge about students' own understandings of mental health and how they might want to learn about it, with the objective of providing guidance for policymakers seeking to maximise opportunities for young people's emotional development in schools.…”