Considerations to Youth's Psychopathology and Mental Healthcare Disparities Research through the Intersections of Dominant and Non-dominant Identities.

Abstract

This article presents a commentary on the interactive associations of demographic factors on youth's psychopathology and mental health service utilization. Intersectionality allows for a more comprehensive understanding of how intersecting non-dominant identities play a role in health outcomes and mental health treatment use. However, these studies can consider conceptualizing intersectionality beyond the methods/statistics, as well as attend to the broader context around what the scientific data is informing. Further, it is imperative that researchers conducting this type of work consider multiple possible interpretations and acknowledge the researcher(s) positionality. Research implications that incorporate intersecting non-dominant demographic identities and its role with other broader systems of position, privilege, and power are therefore discussed. In doing so, these implications may further contribute to the discussion of youth's mental health- and mental healthcare-disparities.