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Research & Studies

Statistics and Facts

1. Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General
http://www.ivpa.org/childrensmhtf/pdf/ICMHTF_FinalReport2003_1.pdf

General

  1. Nationally, over 20 percent of youth experience a diagnosable mental health problem.
  2. One-quarter to one-third of young children are perceived as not being ready to succeed in school, with many affected by social and emotional issues

Suicide

  1. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for adolescents and young adults.

Violent Crime

  1. Students ages 12 through 18 were victims of approximately 186,000 violent crimes in schools; nearly 500,000 witnessed violent crimes away from school.  

**Sources: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General, 1999;
J Knitzer, Using Mental Health Strategies to Move the Early Childhood Agenda and Promote School Readiness, and
C Raver and J Knitzer, Promoting the Emotional Well Being of Children and Families Policy Paper #3. New York: New York, National Center for Children in Poverty; L Gilkerson and A Cutler, Illinois Infant Mental Health Survey: Findings and Recommendations. Chicago, IL: Erikson Institute and University of Illinois, 2001; NCHS National Vital Statistics System for numbers of deaths, U.S. Bureau of Census population estimates; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,  Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 2001; and U.S. General Accounting Office, Child Trauma and Mental Health Services Report to Congress. U.S. Government Printing Office.**

2. The National Mental Health Association (NMHA)
http://www1.nmha.org/children/prevent/stats.cfm
Children's Mental Health Statistics

General

  1. Mental health problems affect one in every five young people at any given time. (Department of Health & Human Services)
  2. Studies indicate that 1 in 5 children and adolescents (20 percent) may have a diagnosable disorder. Estimates of the number of children who have mental disorders range from 7.7 million to 12.8 million. (Department of Health & Human Services)

Health Care

  1. An estimated two-thirds of all young people with mental health problems are not getting the help they need. (Department of Health & Human Services)

Disorders
Anorexia Nervosa

  1. Anorexia affect one in every 100 to 200 adolescent girls and a much smaller number of boys. (Department of Health & Human Services)
  2. Approximately 1% of adolescent girls develop anorexia nervosa. 1 in 10 cases lead to death from starvation, cardiac arrest, or suicide. (National Institute of Mental Health)

Anxiety Disorders

  1. As many as 1 in 10 young people may have an anxiety disorder (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services).
  2. Studies suggest that children or adolescents are more likely to have an anxiety disorder if their parents have anxiety disorders (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services).

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

  1. 30 percent - 40 percent of children diagnosed with ADHD have relatives with the same type of problem. (Clinical Pediatrics)
  2. ADHD is the most common psychiatric condition-affecting children, estimates in prevalence in childhood range from 5 - 10%. (Clinical Pediatrics)
  3. As many as 50% of children with ADHD are never diagnosed. (Harvard Mental Health Letter)

Bipolar Disorder (Manic-Depression)

  1. Almost one-third of six to twelve year old children diagnosed with major depression will develop bipolar disorders within a few years. (Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry)

Bulimia Nervosa

  1. Reported rates of bulimia nervosa vary from one to three out of 100 young people. (Department of Health and Human Services)

Conduct Disorder

  1. As many as 1 in 10 children and adolescents may have a conduct disorder. (Department of Health and Human Services)

Depression

  1. Recent studies show that, at any given time, as many as one in every 33 children may have clinical depression. The rate of depression among adolescents may be as high as one in eight. (Department of Health and Human Services)
  2. Recent studies have shown that greater than 20% of adolescents in the general population have emotional problems and one-third of adolescents attending psychiatry clinics suffer from depression. (The Canadian Journal of CME)

Learning Disorders

  1. It is thought that anywhere from 15 - 20 % of children with ADHD have a condition known as a "Specific Learning Disability" - and perhaps 50% of children with learning disability have ADHD. (Hyperactivity and Attention Deficit Disorder in Children)

Schizophrenia

  1. Schizophrenia is rare in children under 12, but occurs in about three out of every 1,000 adolescents. (Department of Health & Human Services)

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Serious Emotional Disturbances

  1. Serious emotional disturbances affect 1 in ever 10 young people at any given time. (Department of Health & Human Services)

Suicide

  1. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15 - 24 year olds (approx 5,000 young people) and the sixth leading cause of death for five - 15 year olds. (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry)
  2. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15 - 24 year olds (approx 5,000 young people) and the sixth leading cause of death for five - 15 year olds. (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry)
  3. The rate of suicide for this age group has nearly tripled since 1960, making it the third leading cause of death in adolescents and the second leading cause of death among college age youth. (American Academy of Child and Adolescent
  4. More teenagers and young adults died as a result of suicide in 1999 than cancer, heart disease, HIV/AIDS, birth defects, stroke and chronic lung disease combined. (U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention)
  5. For every older teen and young adult who takes his or her own life, 100-200 of their peers attempts suicide. Between 500,000 and 1 million young people attempt suicide each year. (American Association of Suicidology)

Juvenile Justice

  1. It is estimates that between 118,700 and 186,600 youths who are involved in the juvenile justice system have at least one mental disorder. (The National Coalition for the Mentally Ill in the Criminal Justice System)
  2. According to a 1994 OJJDP study of juveniles' response to health screenings conducted at the admission of juvenile facilities, 73 percent of juveniles reported having mental health problems and 57 percent reported having prior mental health treatment or hospitalization.
  3. It is estimates that between 118,700 and 186,600 youths who are involved in the juvenile justice system have at least one mental disorder. (The National Coalition for the Mentally Ill in the Criminal Justice System)
  4. According to a 1994 OJJDP study of juveniles' response to health screenings conducted at the admission of juvenile facilities, 73 percent of juveniles reported having mental health problems and 57 percent reported having prior mental health treatment or hospitalization.
  5. Of the 100,000 teenagers in juvenile detention, estimates indicate that 60 percent have behavioral, mental or emotional problems. (Department of Justice)

3. National Center for Children in Poverty (Children’s Mental Health Problems are Widespread)
http://www.nccp.org/publications/pub_687.html

General

  1. One in five children have a diagnosable mental disorder.3
  2. One in 10 youth has serious mental health problems that are severe enough to impair how they function at home, school, or in the community.4
  3. The onset of major mental illness may occur as early as 7 to 11 years old.5
  4. Factors that predict mental health problems can be identified in the early years.6
  5. Mental Health System Inadequate to Meet Needs of Children and Youth
  6. Most children and youth with mental health problems do not receive needed services.
  7. 75% to 80% of children and youth in need of mental health services do not receive them.12
  8. Mental health services and supports vary depending on the state in which a child or youth with mental health needs lives.
  9. There is a 30% difference between the states with the highest and lowest unmet need for mental health services (51% to 81%).13
  10. Mental Health System Inadequate to Meet Needs of Children and Youth
  11. Most children and youth with mental health problems do not receive needed services.
  12. 75% to 80% of children and youth in need of mental health services do not receive them.12
  13. Mental health services and supports vary depending on the state in which a child or youth with mental health needs lives.
  14. There is a 30% difference between the states with the highest and lowest unmet need for mental health services (51% to 81%).13

Juvenile Justice

  1. 67% to 70% of youth in the juvenile justice system have a diagnosable mental health disorder.11

Poverty

  1. Children and youth from low-income7 households are at increased risk for mental health problems.
  2. 21% of low-income children and youth ages 6 through 17 have mental health problems.8
  3. 57% of these low-income children and youth come from households with incomes at or below the federal poverty level.9
  4. A greater proportion of children and youth in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems have mental health problems than children and youth in the general population.
  5. 50% of children and youth in the child welfare system have mental health problems.10
  6. 85% of children and youth in need of mental health services in the child welfare system do not receive them.17

Ethnic & Cultural

  1. Latino children and youth are less likely to receive services for their mental health problems than children and youth of other ethnic groups.
  2. 31% of white children and youth receive mental health services.14
  3. 13% of children from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds receive mental health services.15
  4. 88% of Latino children have unmet mental health needs. (See Figure 1.)16

Health Care

  1. Even some children and youth with the most intense needs and some who are insured do not receive services.
  2. 79% of children with private health insurance and 73% with public health insurance have unmet mental health needs. (See Figure 2.)18
  3. A gap also exists between need and treatment for youth with substance use disorders that sometimes occur with mental health problems.
  4. Less than 10% of the over 1.4 million youth between 12 through 17 years of age who needed substance abuse treatment in 2004 received specialty facility-based substance abuse treatment.19

4. Little Hover Commission: Making a commitment to mental health, November 2000.

General

  1. Almost 100% of clients paroled in Sacramento County have a history of mental health services.  Source: California Department of Corrections (xv)
  2. California provides mental health services to more than 467,000 people (pg 8)
  3. An estimated 20% of children have mental illness with some form of functional impairment. (Pg 8)
  4. Approximately 5% -9% of children ages 9 to 17 have more severe impairments known as “serious emotional disturbances.”37 (pg 8)
  5. In 1998 over 380,000 Californians received public mental health services through Medi-Cal, up almost 20% from 1991.  The majority of services went to adults. (Pg 8)
  6. In 1998 approximately 26.6% of mental health services provided in California by Medi-Cal were for children ages 0-17. (Pg 8)
  7. The Little Hover Commission Report estimates that the public and private direct costs of mental health care in California are $9.5 billion annually. (This estimate applies a 1996 national estimate of per capita expenditures to the California population) pg 9
  8. Approximately 25,000 children in California receive mental health services for more than 60 days each year. (Pg 87)

5. National Health Policy Forum – www.nhpf.org

Juvenile Justice

  1. Nearly two-thirds of males and three quarters of females in juvenile justice system have at least one psychotic disorder, compared with about 20% of all children.
  2. Psychiatric Disorders of those juveniles breaks down as follows:
    • For women: 22% Major Depressive Episode, 1% Psychotic Disorders, 31% Anxiety Disorder,  21% ADHD, 46% Disruptive Behavior Disorder, 21% ADHD, 47% Substance Abuse Disorder, 74% Any Disorder.
    • For men: 13% Major Depressive Episode, 1% Psychotic Disorders, 21% Anxiety Disorder,  17% ADHD, 41% Disruptive Behavior Disorder, 51% ADHD, 47% Substance Abuse Disorder, 66% Any Disorder.

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