(PS7-D84) Facilitators of Mental Health Service Use Among Latinx Youth

Latinx youth are at risk for various mental health problems; in some instances, they are at increased risk relative to white youth and/or other minority groups, such as in the case of depression, substance use, and suicide. Yet, rates of unmet need for mental health services are high among this group. It is important to examine mental health service use (MHSU) in this community to understand how to better meet the needs of Latinx youth, connect them to care and eliminate the mental health disparities they experience. Much of the literature on MHSU among Latinx youth tends to focus on barriers to service use, and so less is known about facilitators of care (defined as a factor that is associated with or predicts the use of mental health care). There is currently a gap in the literature regarding what facilitators to MHSU are unique to Latinx youth. To bridge this gap, this systematic review synthesizes and critically evaluates the current research on facilitators to care for Latinx children and adolescents.

A systematic search in PsycInfo, PubMed, and Web of Science was conducted for studies published up to January 2022. Keywords for service use and youth were utilized (terms will be provided). Articles were selected for inclusion based on being (a) peer-reviewed and (b) published in English. The initial search across the three databases yielded 3,660 unique articles. Articles were further examined and considered eligible based on the criteria: (c) the sample was age 18 or below, (d) the sample resided in the U.S., (e) the study empirically tested a component of facilitating mental health service use (i.e., correlates, moderators, mediators, or predictors of service use), and (f) the study conducted a within-group analysis among Latinxs. Exclusion criteria included studies only utilizing qualitative analyses and case studies. Of these studies, 15 papers met the inclusion criteria. Facilitators reported in the studies were tabulated and top-rated factors are discussed. These facilitators include youth age (older age), youth gender (male gender), parental social support (the presence of a father figure for youth and primary caregiver marital status), parent perception of financial wellbeing (perception of having stable finances), parent education (high level of education), parental acculturation (higher US acculturation), clinical broadband measure total score (broadband measure of behavioral and emotional problems total score in the clinical range), and diagnosis (diagnosis of any mental health disorder). Also, more limited research suggests familial burden (a parent being given a hard time by others about their child), academic impairment (youth displaying difficulty completing schoolwork on time), and Hispanic ethnic density (Latinx youth who live in areas of reduced Hispanic ethnic density) are factors pertinent to MHSU. Identification of these facilitators to care is critical, given they have the capacity to inform intervention efforts to enhance MHSU among Latinx youth with unmet need. To the authors' knowledge, this work is the first systematic review of facilitators to care among Latinx youth. The current review discusses these factors, the limitations of the present body of literature and provides directions for future studies.