Mental health, well‐being, and help‐seeking in schools among black adolescents: The role of discrimination in high‐achieving academic settings

Abstract

AbstractThe underrepresentation of Black youth in high‐achieving academic settings places significant importance on examining their daily experiences. This study investigated the relationship between school discrimination, well‐being in academic settings, the risk for anxiety and depression, and school mental health help‐seeking intentions. Participants included 110 Black high school students (66% women; mean age = 15.67) attending a special‐admissions public school who participated in their school universal mental health screening. Black high school students in this high achieving context experienced few occurrences of school discrimination, yet these experiences still significantly impacted their internalizing severity. The mediation analyses revealed that experiences of discrimination predicted lower levels of academic efficacy and school connectedness, which predicted higher levels of internalizing symptoms. Experiences of discrimination were not related to mental health help‐seeking at school. However, Black youth's intentions to seek mental health services at school were low, regardless of discriminatory experiences, as evidenced by the percentage of universal screening dissent and their self‐reported plans to seek support. The findings highlight the need to consider Black adolescents' experiences in high achieving schools when engaged in universal mental health screening and individual and school‐wide mental health prevention efforts.