Nonsuicidal Self-injury and Barriers to Accessibility of Dialectical Behavior Therapy Among Black Youth

Youth in communities of color are disproportionately affected by the current mental health crisis, as highlighted in the recent Declaration of National Emergency by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the Children's Hospital Association (CHA).¹ The structural racism that Black youth encounter is a social determinant of health that contributes to inequitable access to evidence-based mental health services. Black youth in the United States experience inequities in financial hardships, access to educational resources, and the undue burden of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, further exacerbating an already outsized mental health burden.².