African American Youth Mental Health: Individual, Environmental and Clinical Factors in Context

Abstract

This article serves as an introduction to this special issue focused on the mental health of African American youth within a familial and environmental context. I present background on the African American adolescent population in the area of mental and behavioral health, describe the impetus for this special issue and provide a brief overview of the professional training and backgrounds of the contributing authors. Finally, I present brief descriptions of the manuscripts selected for inclusion in this special volume of the Journal of Child and Family Studies. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media New York.