Addressing Mental Health Challenges Among Black and Latino Boys

July is Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Mental Health Awareness Month, highlighting racial and ethnic disparities in mental health diagnosis and access to treatments.

Mental health is a pertinent issue in the US today, as health organizations and policymakers continually express concern and advocate for adolescents and children, especially given the rapidly expanding digital era. Numerous studies have pointed to significant harm to youth’s mental health from the excessive or problematic use of social media and digital devices.¹

In combination with the alarming rate of suicides and reports of depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses among young Black men and boys and young Hispanic or Latino men and boys, addressing these gaps in diagnosis and access to care is critical.^2,3 Alvin Thomas, PhD, a clinical psychologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has focused his work on addressing stigma around the mental health of men and boys with an emphasis on risks and protections for Black children and youth, especially Black boys, exploring outcomes including violence, grades, and well-being.

The American Journal of Managed Care^® spoke with Thomas about the impact external social influences have on youth mental health, specifically that of Black adolescents. He also suggested how communities, online and familial, can help reshape preconceived notions on mental health, overcome them, and actively repair the chasms they’ve erected through open conversations.

“We have to reach out to the men who are already fathers and grandfathers and social fathers and provide support for them. Men cannot be allowed to just figure it out,” he said. “My admonition to parents, all parents: let your boys be boys beyond 10 years old. Let your boys laugh and frolic and gamble and kick up their heels and jump in puddles for as long as they want. Let them be children.”

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References

1. Thomas A, Gale A, Golden AR. Online racial discrimination, critical consciousness, and psychosocial distress among Black and Latino adolescents: a moderated mediation model. J Youth Adolesc. 2023;52:967–979. doi:10.1007/s10964-022-01732-z
2. Kaplan MS, Williams ACM, Mellor SG, Bizmark RS. Changing trends in suicide mortality and firearm involvement among Black young adults, 1999-2019. Arch Suicide Res. 2022 Jul 18;27(3):1099–1104. doi:10.1080/13811118.2022.2098889
3. Stone DM, Cammack AL, Carbone EG. Notes from the field: differences in suicide rates, by race and ethnicity and age group—United States, 2018–2023. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2025;74(35):550-553. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm7435a2