By Jason M. Lang and Phyllis Lee, Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut, September 5, 2019
Behavioral health problems are common, with 13-20% of all youth experiencing a diagnosable mental illness in the past year, and as many as half of all children experiencing mental illness at some point by the age of 181. Child and family-focused psychotherapy (“talk therapy”) is generally the first treatment indicated for most childhood mental illness, with outpatient and school-based therapy being the most frequent treatment settings. While psychotherapy is generally effective overall, rates of improvement are modest2 and treatment completion rates are low. Behavioral health disparities also exist, particularly for children of color, who access services at lower rates and are less likely to complete treatment than White children. Research is less clear about whether racial/ethnic disparities in outcomes exist for children who do receive treatment within large systems of care.3, 4
Recent data from Connecticut suggest that evidence-based treatments (EBTs) can result in greater improvement than usual care treatments while also reducing disparities for children of color.
EBTs Remain an Underutilized Resource for Improving Outcomes and Reducing Disparities.
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