OBJECTIVE To examine whether there are ethnic differences in referral route to youth mental health services. METHOD This was an analysis of national, routinely collected data from 14,588 young people (mean [SD] age = 12.28 [3.75] years, 54% female; 64% white British) accessing mental health services in the United Kingdom. Ethnicity was self-reported by young people and carers, and referral route was recorded by services. RESULTS After accounting for service-level variation and controlling for age, sex, problem type, and contextual factors, ethnicity was significantly associated with referral route. Compared to white British young people, black young people (odds ratio [OR] = 2.90, 95% CI = 2.07-4.06) and mixed-race young people (OR = 2.66, 95% CI = 1.91-3.72) were more than twice as likely to be referred through social care/youth justice than through primary care. Compared to white British young people, Asian young people (OR = 1.85, 95% CI = 1.34-2.54) were almost twice as likely to be referred through social care/youth justice than through primary care. We conducted a sensitivity analysis to examine whether ethnic differences in referral route were attenuated when also accounting for service area deprivation, and the above effects were only partially attenuated. CONCLUSION There are ethnic differences in referral route to youth mental health services in the United Kingdom, and young people from minority ethnic backgrounds are more likely to be referred through routes that are less likely to be voluntary. Understanding the reasons for these differences is critical for reducing inequalities and improving pathways to mental health care access.

中文翻译：

---

青年心理健康服务转诊途径中的种族差异。

目的探讨青少年心理健康服务的转诊途径是否存在种族差异。方法这是一项对从英国全国14 588名获得心理健康服务的年轻人（平均年龄[SD] = 12.28 [3.75]岁，其中54％的女性； 64％的英国白人）常规收集的数据的分析。年轻人和看护者自我报告了种族，推荐服务记录了推荐路线。结果在考虑了服务水平的变化并控制了年龄，性别，问题类型和环境因素后，种族与推荐途径显着相关。与英国白人年轻人相比，黑人年轻人（优势比[OR] = 2.90，95％CI = 2.07-4.06）和混合种族的年轻人（OR = 2.66，95％CI = 1.91-3）。72）通过社会照料/青年司法被推荐的可能性是通过初级照护被推荐的可能性的两倍以上。与英国白人年轻人相比，亚洲年轻人（OR = 1.85，95％CI = 1.34-2.54）被社会关怀/青年司法推荐的可能性几乎是初级保健的两倍。我们进行了敏感性分析，以检查在考虑服务区域匮乏的同时，转诊路线中的种族差异是否有所减弱，并且上述影响只是部分减弱了。结论在英国，青少年心理健康服务的转诊途径存在种族差异，来自少数民族背景的年轻人更有可能通过自愿性途径进行转诊。