More than 300,000 California children between the ages of 4 and 11 need mental health care, but only 1 in 4 is treated, according to a new policy brief from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research—this, despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommending early intervention in childhood as a critical step in reducing the severity of mental health problems in adulthood.
“Without early assessment, you miss warning signs, as well as opportunities to intervene,” said Dr. Imelda Padilla-Frausto, a researcher at the center and lead author of the study. “Waiting can lead to more serious problems later.”
In fact, according to the report, nearly half of all Americans will need mental health treatment some time during their lifetimes, and initial symptoms frequently occur in childhood or adolescence.
While about 8.5 percent of all California children in the 4-to-11 age group are identified as having mental healthcare issues—including conduct problems, emotional symptoms, hyperactivity and problems with peers—parents reported that 70.8 percent of these children went without emotional or psychological counseling over the previous year, according to the study, which used California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) data from 2007-2009.
Boys are more likely than girls to have mental health needs. Other factors commonly associated with higher rates of mental health needs are having poor health status, asthma, or developmental disabilities; living in poverty; or living in a single-parent household.
For all children in California, several of these indicators were associated with an increased likelihood of mental health problems:
• Children in fair or poor health–about one in five (22.4 percent) had mental health needs, in comparison to children who were in excellent or good health (6.9 percent).
• Children with asthma were twice as likely as children without asthma to have mental health needs (14.0 percent vs. 8 percent).
• Children in single-parent households had a higher proportion of mental health needs (12.7 percent) than children in two-parent households (7.4 percent).
• Boys were nearly twice as likely as girls to have mental health needs (11 percent vs. 6 percent.)
Interestingly, compared to Whites (9.7 percent), parents of Latino children were statistically less likely to report that their child had a mental health need (7.8 percent), which is similar to the findings observed in the adult non U.S.-born Latino population.
Parents’ physical, mental health affects children
Various indicators of parents’ health status were also associated with mental health needs in their children. Children with parent(s) who had mental health needs or a physical disability or who reported having fair or poor health were more likely to have mental health needs than children with parents who did not have any of these health impairments. Children ages 4 to 11 were more likely to have mental health needs, if a parent had poor mental or physical health.
• Children who had a parent with mental health needs were almost three times as likely to have mental health needs (20.5 percent) as children whose parents did not have mental health needs (7.7 percent).
• Children were twice as likely to have mental health needs, if a parent had a physical disability (15.1 percent) compared to children whose parents did not have a disability (7.3 percent).
• Children with a parent who reported fair or poor health had higher rates of mental health needs (11.6 percent) than children with healthier parents (8.3 percent).
Few children receive mental health treatment
Early intervention and appropriate treatment of emotional and behavioral problems in children are crucial to reducing and preventing serious negative consequences for academic achievement and social development. CHIS asked parents if their child received emotional or psychological counseling sometime in the past year. Based on these reports, nearly three out of four (70.8 percent) children with mental health needs did not receive treatment. Nearly all of these children with mental health needs had health insurance coverage and a usual source of care (95 percent and 96 percent, respectively), suggesting that other barriers were responsible for unmet mental health needs among children.
While 70.8 percent of all children with mental health needs did not receive treatment, children residing in households where there was limited English proficiency faced additional barriers to treatment. Specifically, 88.6 percent of children whose parent(s) had limited English proficiency did not receive any mental health treatment, compared to 66.5 percent of similar children with English-proficient parents.
• Children were twice as likely to have mental health needs, if a parent had a physical disability (15.1 percent) compared to children whose parents did not have a disability (7.3 percent).
• Children with a parent who reported fair or poor health had higher rates of mental health needs (11.6 percent) than children with healthier parents (8.3 percent).
About CHIS/Data Source
This policy brief is based on data from the 2007 and 2009 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS). The largest statewide health survey conducted in the U.S., CHIS is a research project of the UCLA Center for characteristics and children’s use of mental health services. For more information on CHIS and for access to CHIS data and results, visit www.chis.ucla.edu.
