title: Service Utilization among ethnic minority children with ADHD: a model of help-seeking behavior.
abstract: Despite a significant increase in the number of children and adolescents who receive clinical services for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), there is still a considerable level of unmet need. Children of ethnic minority status continue to lag well behind their non-minority counterparts in the rate of diagnosis and treatment for the disorder. Racial/ethnic disparities in service use are the result of a combination of access barriers and individual, cultural, and societal factors. The ADHD Help-Seeking Behavior Model is proposed as a framework for understanding factors that may be predictive of service use. Variables specific to ADHD and ethnic-minority populations are integrated within the framework of a four-stage pathway model encompassing problem recognition, decision to seek help, service selection, and service use. The authors argue that by systematically addressing factors related to service use for each ethnic minority group, more effective intervention initiatives can be developed to improve identification and treatment for ADHD among underserved children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. eiraldi@mail.med.upenn.edu
authors.forename: Ricardo B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Eiraldi
authors.forename: Laurie B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Mazzuca
authors.forename: Angela T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Power
mesh_terms: D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D005006:Ethnicity; D006801:Humans; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008913:Minority Groups; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009657:North Carolina / Q000453:epidemiology; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care