Lau, Katherine S. L.Aalsma, Matthew C.Holloway, Evan D.Wiehe, Sarah E.Vachon, David D.2017-01-132017-01-132015-09Lau, K. S. L., Aalsma, M. C., Holloway, E. D., Wiehe, S. E., & Vachon, D. D. (2015). The effects of racial heterogeneity on mental health: A study of detained youth across multiple counties. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 85(5), 421–430. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000100https://hdl.handle.net/1805/11801A majority of detained adolescents experience mental health and substance use problems. Limited research has examined the interaction between the race/ethnicity of an individual youth and county-level racial heterogeneity on adolescent mental health outcomes. Participants were identified through a statewide mental health screening project that took place in detention centers across 11 different counties in a Midwestern state during January 1, 2008, to May 10, 2010. A total of 23,831 detained youth (ages 11–18 years), identified as non-Hispanic White (46.6%), Black (43.5%), or Hispanic (9.8%), completed a mental health screener that assessed problems in alcohol/drug use, depression-anxiety, anger-irritability, trauma, somatic complaints, and suicide ideation. Census data were gathered to determine the racial heterogeneity of each county and other county-level variables. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were used to test the independent and interactive effects of youth race/ethnicity and county-level variables (including racial heterogeneity of the county) on adolescent mental health. Independent of other community characteristics, as county-level racial heterogeneity increased, mental health problems among detained youth decreased. In future research on the development and persistence of mental health problems in detained youth, both community and individual-level factors should be considered.enPublisher Policyadolescent mental healthjuvenile justiceracial heterogeneityArticle