The mental health of teens and tweens has become a nationwide concern — especially since the pandemic.

Mental health services for young people have not kept pace with this growing awareness that the kids are not alright. Such programs can be hard to find, and many teens are reluctant to use them.

The issue is even more pronounced among teens who are members of racial and ethnic minorities. It is especially difficult for minority teens to access a mental health provider, particularly one they feel comfortable with.

Peer support groups can level some of the disparities in the use of mental health services seen between white teens and those in minority groups.

To get a clearer picture of the mental health options available to minority youth, researchers at Harvard University analyzed responses from over 23,500 participants between 12 and 17 years old in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

Their findings suggest that teens in racial and ethnic minority populations need better access to mental health care.

Almost 32 percent of white teens said they had a mental health visit within the last year, but only 22 percent of Black and 26 percent of Hispanic teens reported seeing someone for their mental health.

The kinds of treatment teens were offered when they did see a mental health professional varied, too. White teens were a significantly more likely to be given prescription medication for their mental health. More than 17 percent of white teens had received a prescription compared to about 10 percent of Hispanic, eight percent of Black and four percent of Asian and Pacific Islander teens.

Parents need to keep in mind that mental health problems are pretty common during adolescence. If parents are concerned about their child's mental health, the first step is not necessarily contacting a mental health specialist, Yanlei Ma, one of the authors of the study, told TheDoctor. Parents should first talk to their child's regular healthcare provider, someone who knows their child and their child has known.

Group therapy, particularly peer therapy, is a good option, and the study found minority and white teens were equally likely to participate in peer support groups or receive help from peer support specialists and recovery coaches.

That's a good thing. The researchers noted that previous studies had found teens can benefit from seeking mental health support from their peers, and the availability of peer support can level some of the disparities in the use of mental health services seen between white teens and those in minority groups.

Mistrust of the healthcare system, a history of discrimination and cultural stigma may make teens in minority groups and their families reluctant to seek mental health services. Peer support groups may feel more approachable or culturally aligned for some teens, said Ma, a research scientist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “They can be promising way for teens who are having trouble accessing mental health services to get help,” she said.

If parents are concerned about their child's mental health, the first step is not necessarily contacting a mental health specialist.

How teens access mental health care changed during the pandemic. Telehealth visits, for example, became more common. But again, racial and ethnic minority youth were less likely than white teens and tweens to make use of this option. The researchers found 17 percent of white teens had had a telehealth visit compared to 12 percent of Hispanic, nine percent of Black and eight percent of Asian and Pacific Islander teens.

Virtual visits can make mental health consults more possible, but the absence of a physical face-to-face interaction, which helps strengthen the patient-clinician bond in telehealth visits may add to distrust of mental health care among minority groups, the researchers said, adding, “Enhancing culturally relevant, community-based groups and peer services tailored specifically to adolescents in racial and ethnic minority groups may offer a way to support these populations.”

Going forward, more studies are needed to understand the mechanisms that lead to disparities in telehealth use among teens. “We need to study these mechanisms to figure out how to address stigma and distrust in the mental health care system among minorities and close these gaps,” said Ma.

The study is published in JAMA Network Open.