Psychometric Evaluation of a Barriers to Mental Health Treatment Questionnaire for Latina/o/x Caregivers of Children and Adolescents

Abstract

Background Knowledge regarding barriers faced by Latina/o/x caregivers in accessing youth mental health services (MHS) have largely depended on resource intensive interview-based assessments. Objective We evaluated a questionnaire for Latina/o/x caregivers of youths that presents a briefer and more feasible alternative. Method We conducted a psychometric evaluation of the Barriers to Treatment Questionnaire - Latina/o/x Caregivers (BTQ-LC) with a sample of 598 Latina/o/x caregivers from across the United States. Descriptive statistics and confirmatory factor analyses were used to identify common barriers to services, confirm the factor structure of the scale, and establish construct validity. Results Descriptive statistics suggest that not knowing where and how to access services, and normalization of youth psychopathology were the most frequently reported barriers among caregivers of youth with clinically elevated problems on the CBCL. Confirmatory factor analysis suggests that the BTQ-LC was best represented by a three-factor structure: (1) structural, (2) perceptions regarding mental health problems, and (3) services. Our finding suggest that the BTQ-LC could also be used as a single factor as fit indices ranged from acceptable to poor. BTQ-LC scales were all negatively correlated with the utilization of common youth MHS (i.e., psychological counseling, medical doctors, school professionals). Conclusions The BTQ-LC represents an important step towards improving our understanding and assessment of barriers to services contributing to mental health disparities among Latina/o/x youths.