by Deseret News
The Deseret News’ and BYU’s seventh annual American Family Survey was released this past week and provides some new data on mental health, revealing that 47% of those who said they needed mental health care did not receive it.
About 75% of respondents to the American Family Survey said they needed physical health care in the previous year, and about 50% said they needed mental health care. Of those who said they needed care, they were also asked if they received the care they needed. About one-quarter (26%) of those who said they needed physical health care indicated that they did not receive it, and nearly half of those indicating that they needed mental health services reported that they did not receive it. The lack of care was highest among the lowest-income Americans.
The survey also gathered data on whether Americans had experienced an increase in sadness or depression. Nearly one-third of Americans (32%) indicated that they had experienced an increase in sadness or depression. This number was highest (40%) among single people with no children, and lowest (26%) among those who are married, with children.
The rest of the 2021 American Family Survey focuses on questions related to economics, race, family life and COVID-19. It’s a poll of 3,000 Americans, conducted by YouGov. The complete results of the seventh annual survey, as well as the findings from previous years, are available at www.Deseret.com/AFS.
The American Family Survey is an annual nationwide study of a diverse sample of 3,000 Americans designed by the Deseret News and the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy at BYU and conducted by YouGov. Now in its seventh year, the survey is designed to understand the experiences of Americans in their relationships, marriages and families, and how those experiences relate to a variety of public policy issues. The survey’s advisory committee includes Karlyn Bowman (American Enterprise Institute), Marcy Carlson (University of Wisconsin-Madison), Richard Reeves (The Brookings Institution) and Brad Wilcox (American Enterprise Institute and the University of Virginia).
The Deseret News was founded in 1850 by the pioneers who founded Salt Lake City, with the motto, “Liberty & Truth.” Today, it is Utah’s oldest continuously operating business and second-oldest news publication in the West. It is part of a portfolio of media entities at the Deseret Management Corporation, which is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Deseret News retains and reaffirms its commitment to being a standard-bearer of journalistic integrity and principled reporting. They aim to elevate understanding, challenge assumptions and illuminate context from our long-standing heritage of faith, family and values.
