Abstract

Background: Despite increasing recognition of mental health inequalities in adolescence and children, there is little evidence on what works to address these inequalities. There is limited review evidence regarding the effectiveness of interventions to improve access to mental healthcare across ethnic minority groups. This systematic review and narrative synthesis aimed to highlight evidence-based studies that establish the impact of ethnicity and socioeconomic disparities on NHS and community-based interventions for adolescent mental health in UK.
Method: Six electronic databases were searched 2nd to 18th of March 2025. Primary studies were supported with relevant policies documents and additional studies were identified through screening reference lists and citations of included studies and relevant review articles. Search concept was developed based on PICOS-framework and terms used across all searches.
Results: From 213,090 recognized citations, 7 met the eligibility criteria for further analysis, concerning participants aged from 0 months to a maximum age of 25 years even as majority targeted on ethnicity-related disparity (k=5/7). Three of the studies were cohort study designs (42.8%), two were cross-sectional study (28.6%) and other studies were based on qualitative design (14.3%) and mixed method design (14.3%). Regarding the evidence of the disparities on the NHS and community-based interventions, some studies were able to offer their findings and conclusion on the potential inequalities while other studies suggested the need for more information and further research to establish the underpin ethnic and socio-economic disparities.
Conclusion: Emphasis is placed on adult population, and the review has demonstrated that such emphases are significantly lacking among the adolescent population. The review further advocate for more evidence-based studies to establish whether mental health interventions narrow or widen inequalities based on ethnicity and socioeconomic disparity for adolescents and this remain a priority for public health research and practice.