Editorial perspective : Mental health needs of children and young people of Black ethnicity. Is it time to reconceptualise racism as a traumatic experience?

Ayodeji, E; Dubicka, B; Abuah, O; Odebiyi, B; Sultana, R; Ani, C

Abstract

We explore racial inequality in relation to Black children and young people (CYP) and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). We argue that the experience of racism should be universally considered an Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE). We argue that racism and the vicarious trauma arising from exposure to frequent media reports of racially motivated violence against persons of Black ethnicity can all predispose Black CYP to increased risk of mental health problems. We make recommendations to improve Black CYP’s early access to CAMHS, and to reduce their overrepresentation in psychiatric in-patient settings in the UK. This would require making CAMHS more welcoming to Black CYP and consideration of the impact of racism and trauma in the diagnostic and treatment formulation for Black CYP. This should include: the impact of racism in staff training, improving the cultural competence of CAMHS staff, and supporting Black CYP to articulate their experiences of racism and related traumas whilst facilitating their development of coping strategies to manage these experiences.

Citation

Ayodeji, E., Dubicka, B., Abuah, O., Odebiyi, B., Sultana, R., & Ani, C. (2021). Editorial perspective : Mental health needs of children and young people of Black ethnicity. Is it time to reconceptualise racism as a traumatic experience?. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 26(3), 265-266. https://doi.org/10.1111/camh.12482

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 6, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Jul 8, 2021
• Publication Date: Aug 30, 2021
• Deposit Date: Aug 31, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 8, 2022
• Journal: Child and Adolescent Mental Health
• Print ISSN: 1475-357X
• Electronic ISSN: 1475-3588
• Publisher: Wiley
• Volume: 26
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 265-266
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/camh.12482
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/camh.12482
• Related Public URLs: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1475-3588
• Additional Information: Additional Information : ** Article version: VoR ** From Crossref journal articles via Jisc Publications Router **Journal IDs: pissn 1475-357X; eissn 1475-3588 **History: issued 08-07-2021; published_online 08-07-2021 **License for this article: starting on 08-07-2021, , http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor; Access Information : This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Ayodeji, E., Dubicka, B., Abuah, O., Odebiyi, B., Sultana, R. and Ani, C. (2021), Editorial Perspective: Mental health needs of children and young people of Black ethnicity. Is it time to reconceptualise racism as a traumatic experience?. Child Adolesc Ment Health, 26: 265-266., which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/camh.12482. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited. The published version can be freely accessed using the link above.