This handbook fills major gaps in the child and adolescent mental health literature by focusing on the unique challenges and resiliencies of African American youth. It combines a cultural perspective on the needs of the population with best-practice approaches to interventions. Chapters provide expert insights into sociocultural factors that influence mental health, the prevalence of particular disorders among African American adolescents, ethnically salient assessment and diagnostic methods, and the evidence base for specific models. The information presented in this handbook helps bring the field closer to critical goals: increasing access to treatment, preventing misdiagnosis and over hospitalization, and reducing and ending disparities in research and care.

¿Part I. Illness Prevalence & Assessment.- Chapter 1:  Epidemiology of Prevalent Mental Illnesses in African American Youth.- Chapter 2:  Culturally Relevant Diagnosis and Assessment of Mental Illness in African American Youth.- Part II: Treatment Modalities.- Chapter 3: Psychopharmacology.- Chapter 4: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).- Chapter 5: Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and Interpersonal Therapy (IPT).- Chapter 6: Mindfulness.- Chapter 7: Inpatient treatment.- Chapter 8: Community Mental Health.- Part III: Illnesses and Targeted Treatment Outcomes.- Chapter 9: Autism Spectrum Disorders.- Chapter 10: ADHD.- Chapter 11: CD and ODD.- Chapter 12: Anxiety, Obsessive-Compulsive, and Trauma Related Disorders.- Chapter 13: Mood Disorders.- Chapter 14: Eating Disorders.- Chapter 15: Schizophrenia.- Chapter 16: Intellectual and Developmental Disorders.- Chapter 17: Learning Disabilities.- Chapter 18: Substance Related and Addictive Disorders.- Part IV: Additional Important Topics.- Chapter 19: Disparities in Access to Mental Health Care for African American Youth.- Chapter 20: Future Directions.