Despite the mental health crisis youth face in the United States, little is known about how children differentially access mental health care from primary care providers and psychiatrists. Using the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS), researchers explored trends over time from 2005-2019.

This article examines demographic and diagnostic differences in treatments for child mental health among provider types (family medicine vs pediatricians vs psychiatrists) and insurance status (Medicaid vs private vs uninsured) to help understand how child and provider characteristics impact service delivery.

Don’t have access to the full text? Email Alex Gertner, (alex.gertner@unchealth.unc.edu), to request a pdf version.