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Presentation Type

Open Access Oral Presentation

Abstract

While research continues to grow, it is apparent that there are still gaps in knowledge. This research was inspired by my ongoing internship at Allen Child Protection Center, where I have seen children left behind for not recognizing an outdated radio during cognitive testing, as well as my experience as a fraternal twin with a 10 year diagnosis gap between me and my brother. This led me to investigate diagnostic disparities in children’s mental health data.

To better understand if children are experiencing mental health diagnosis disparities, I am analyzing 9 waves of data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) from the years 2013-2022. This data was collected on patients who received mental health support services through state administrative systems and is reported nationally to SAMHSA. Descriptive statistics and Logistic Regression models were used to test whether children (based on race, ethnicity, sex, education, age, and region of the country where they reside) are at higher risk to have mental health diagnosis data missing from their records at each time point observed, determine which factors have the greatest impact, and observe trends over time. Throughout the waves observed, child diagnostic disparities increased substantially with education level, race, and region being the strongest indicators.

Start Date

14-4-2026 12:00 PM

End Date

14-4-2026 12:15 PM

Faculty Advisor

Ashleigh Kysar-Moon

Department

Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology

Department

Department of Social Work

Student Type

Undergraduate Student

Comments

Award: Fruehling Undergraduate Research Fellowship

File Format

application/pdf

File Size

705 KB

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Additional Files

INSPIRE_2026_McDonald_Missing-Children_Paper.pdf (898 kB)
Missing Children: The Underrepresentation of Youth in Mental Health Data Paper

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Apr 14th, 12:00 PM Apr 14th, 12:15 PM

Missing Children: The Underrepresentation of Youth in Mental Health Data

While research continues to grow, it is apparent that there are still gaps in knowledge. This research was inspired by my ongoing internship at Allen Child Protection Center, where I have seen children left behind for not recognizing an outdated radio during cognitive testing, as well as my experience as a fraternal twin with a 10 year diagnosis gap between me and my brother. This led me to investigate diagnostic disparities in children’s mental health data.

To better understand if children are experiencing mental health diagnosis disparities, I am analyzing 9 waves of data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) from the years 2013-2022. This data was collected on patients who received mental health support services through state administrative systems and is reported nationally to SAMHSA. Descriptive statistics and Logistic Regression models were used to test whether children (based on race, ethnicity, sex, education, age, and region of the country where they reside) are at higher risk to have mental health diagnosis data missing from their records at each time point observed, determine which factors have the greatest impact, and observe trends over time. Throughout the waves observed, child diagnostic disparities increased substantially with education level, race, and region being the strongest indicators.