School Based Mental Health Services

Article Critique

Article Critique on with factors and disorders on type of School-Based Mental Health Services Received by Youth

Mental health is a significant issue in society because of the increasing cases of depression and suicide. Schools have incorporated mental health services to help underserved youths. However, there are cases that these school-based services are varied. Green and other renowned authors have written an article known as "Association of Sociodemographic Factors and Psychiatric Disorders With Type of School-Based Mental Health Services Received by Youth." Therefore, the core purpose of the essay is to summarize and critique the article.

This article discusses racial disparities in accessing mental health services among youths. The authors compare the number of whites receiving mental health services in specialty sectors to minority communities. For instance, Latinos and Blacks are more likely to be assigned to separate classrooms or schools than their white counterparts (Green et al., 2020). Despite these schools claiming that the separate classrooms and schools are to enhance change in individual behavior and provide intensive therapy to the students, research has found that the teachers assigned to care for these students are less qualified. Thus, the purpose for the separation is not fulfilled. Unfortunately, the solution to these mental health disparities are complex, but immediate intervention is required because these placements can lead to poor academic outcomes and drop-outs.

The key strength of the paper is in the significance of the problem. The authors have clearly stated the issue being researched and the importance of the study. For instance, the problem is disparities among underserved youths in school-based mental health services. The article has vividly discussed how these disparities occur and why an immediate solution is required.

Another strength of the article is the results sections. The report has organized the results in tables such that it is easy to interpret. For instance, there is table 1 that entails the adolescents receiving lifetime services, and Table 2A entails sociodemographic factors and their relationship to separate classrooms (Green et al., 2020). Thus, tables to organize data enable readers to quickly determine the experimented variable and the findings. The tables have also been included appropriately in the article's reference section.

The methodology section is another strength of the article as it entails how the data was collected. The article fails to outline the materials used for the study, but they highlight how the samples used for the research were attained. The methodology section has also been divided into sub-sections—for example, diagnostic assessment, school-based placements, and covariates. The sub-division is that different methods were used to collect data. The technique used include interviews, surveys, and parents' SAQs.

Additionally, the article used discrete-time survival analysis. The analysis is appropriate for the study because it examines each type of school service (Green et al., 2020). However, the authors have shallowly written this section such that interpretation is difficult. The readers cannot comprehend the analysis due to its complexity. More details should therefore be included in the area.

The weakness of the article is in the literature review. The article has combined the introduction with the literature review section. These sections should be separated into scholarly articles because they have different purposes. The literature review is also shallow as it does not entail the previous research and its relevance to the investigation. Thus, it is difficult for readers to differentiate the literature review section combined with the introduction.