About 15% of children nationwide received treatment for mental health disorders in 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday.
The CDC’s analysis of a national health survey found that 14.9% of children ages 5–17 years received mental health treatment in the previous 12 months, including 8.2% who took psychiatric medication and 11.5% who had counseling or therapy with a mental health professional. The federal agency noted that attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and behavioral issues were the most common complaints among school-age children.
The findings are consistent with pre-pandemic trends and suggest some children have less access to mental health care than others, said Ben Zablotsky, a CDC statistician and co-author of the report.
“Boys continue to be more likely than girls to receive medication for their mental health, children in rural settings continue to be more likely to receive medication for their mental health than children in suburban and urban settings, and non-Hispanic White children continue to receive mental health treatment at a higher rate than children of other races and Hispanic-origin,” Mr. Zablotsky told The Washington Times.
The CDC researchers found that 18.9% of children ages 12 to 17 had treatments for mental health issues compared with 11.3% of kids ages 5 to 11.
An estimated 9% of boys and 7.3% of girls took medication for their mental health, while 11% of boys and 12.1% of girls received therapy.
“It is common for adolescents to receive mental health treatment at a greater rate than younger children, as the age of onset for some of the most common mental health disorders, particularly anxiety and depression, is in the teenage years,” Mr. Zablotsky added.
The survey found that 18.3% of White children, 12.5% of Black children, 10.3% of Hispanic children and 4.4% of Asian children received mental health treatments.
Geographically, 19.1% of children in nonmetropolitan areas got treated for mental health disorders in 2021. By comparison, 14% in large metropolitan areas and 14.9% in medium or small cities received treatments.
• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.