Children in the United States have a huge unmet need when it comes to mental health care, and pediatricians and other pediatric primary-care providers are often left to fill the gap. That can be a problem, said psychologist Dustin Sarver, PhD, of the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, noting that such providers aren’t always comfortable diagnosing and treating mental health conditions.
“About 1 in 5 kids will have a clinically diagnosable mental health condition, but half of those kids will not receive care from a mental health provider,” said Sarver, an associate professor of psychiatry and human behavior and pediatrics. “In rural places like Mississippi, about two thirds of the child population with an identified mental health condition are not connected to services.”
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