Rewrite Study shows significant increase in mental health diagnoses among publicly insured children this news headline for the science magazine post

In the first comprehensive investigation into the trends of mental health diagnoses among children with public health insurance, a new study reports the percentage of mental health and neurodevelopmental disorder diagnoses increased substantially in the decade before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Researchers from Emory University and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta used Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program claims data to analyze trends in mental health and neurodevelopmental disorder diagnoses among nearly 30 million publicly insured children ages 3-17 across 22 U.S. states from 2010-19.

The study, which was published in JAMA on Thursday, found the percentage of children diagnosed with such disorders in each year rose from 10.7% to 16.5% during this period. After accounting for population changes over time, this translated into an increase of 6.7 percentage points.

“The size of the increase is alarming and clinically significant on its own. But it is even more concerning that we saw this increase and our last year of data was 2019, when we know from other sources that mental health among children continued to decline after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic,” says lead author Janet Cummings, PhD, professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health.

Additional important findings

• Significant increases occurred in nine of the 13 diagnostic categories examined.
• The largest increases were observed for ADHD, anxiety, autism, trauma- and stressor-related disorders and depression.
• The study also showed that all the demographic subgroups studied experienced significant increases regardless of age, sex, race, ethnicity or residence in urban, suburban or rural communities.

Highlighting a growing need

“Our data represents a significant number and percentage of the children in our communities. These increases in both the number and rates of children being diagnosed with mental health and neurodevelopmental disorders have important implications for chronically underfunded mental health systems that have already been struggling to meet the needs of this vulnerable population,” Cummings says.

“As mental health diagnoses among children increase,” Cummings continues,“we must make sure the systems that support them have enough resources to address their challenges and help them get better. Mental health is foundational for a child’s development, and investment in the systems that serve children with public insurance is critical for their well-being, their life trajectory and their long-term success.”