Mental and Behavioral Health - Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders

In 2019, suicide was the leading cause of death for Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders ages 15-24.¹

In 2019, Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders were 70 percent less likely to receive mental health services or receive prescription medications for mental health treatment as compared to non-Hispanic whites.²

Mental Health Status

Serious psychological distress in the past year among persons age 18 years and over, percentage, 2023
Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
14.0	14.2	1.0

Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 2024. Results from the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Mental Health Detailed Tables. Table 6.86B. For the definition of “serious psychological distress,” see Appendix A.

Feelings of sadness, hopelessness, worthlessness, or that everything is an effort, all or most of the time, among adults age 18 and over, percentage, 2018
	Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Sadness	--	2.7	--
Hopelessness	--	2.2	--
Worthlessness	--	2.3	--
Everything is an effort	--	6.5	--

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2021. Summary Health Statistics: National Health Interview Survey: 2018. Table A-7c.

Serious psychological distress among persons age 18 and over, percentage, 2018
	Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Total	--	3.7	--

Source: CDC, 2021. Summary Health Statistics: National Health Interview Survey: 2018. Table A-8c. For the definition of “serious psychological distress,” see footnote 1 to Table A-8c.

Major depressive episode in the past year among persons age 18 and over, percentage, 2021
Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
4.3	9.1	0.5

Source: SAMHSA, 2023. Results from the 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Mental Health Detailed Tables. Table 6.40B. For the definition of “major depressive episode,” see Appendix A.

Any mental illness in the past year among persons age 18 and over, percentage, 2021
Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
16.1	24.3	0.7

Source: SAMHSA, 2023. Results from the 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Mental Health Detailed Tables. Table 6.7B. For the definition of “any mental illness,” see Appendix A.

Death Rates

Age-adjusted death rates for suicide by sex, race, and Hispanic origin, 2020
	Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Male	20.0	27.2	0.7
Female	--	6.9	--
Total	12.5	16.9	0.7

Source: CDC, 2023. Deaths: Final Data for 2020. National Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 72, No. 10. Table 10.

Suicide rates by age, race, and Hispanic origin, 2019: Males
	Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Males	Non-Hispanic White Males	Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
15–24 years	--	25.6	--
25–44 years	42.5	36.0	1.2
45–64 years	--	38.3	--
65 years and over	--	37.6	--
All ages, age adjusted	22.1	28.0	0.8

Source: CDC, 2023. Health, United States, 2020–2021. Table SuicMort.

Suicide rates by age, race, and Hispanic origin, 2019: Females
	Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Females	Non-Hispanic White Females	Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
15–24 years	--	6.1	--
25–44 years	--	9.8	--
45–64 years	--	12.6	--
65 years and over	--	6.2	--
All ages, age adjusted	--	7.7	--

Source: CDC, 2023. Health, United States, 2020–2021. Table SuicMort.

Adolescents

Death rates for suicide: ages 15–19, 2021
	Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Male	--	17.7	--
Female	14.1	5.0	2.8
Both Sexes	7.0	11.6	0.6

Source: CDC. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Web Based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS). National Violent Death Reporting System. Violent Deaths Report.

Students in grades 9–12 who seriously considered attempting suicide in the past 12 months, percentage, 2021
Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
21.4	22.7	0.9

Source: CDC, 2023. High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data.
https://nccd.cdc.gov/Youthonline/App/Default.aspx

Students in grades 9–12 who attempted suicide in the past 12 months, percentage, 2021
Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
9.7	9.0	1.1

Source: CDC, 2023. High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data.
https://nccd.cdc.gov/Youthonline/App/Default.aspx

Access to Health Care

Adults age 18 and over who received mental health services in the past year, percentage, 2019
Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
6.1	19.8	0.3

Source: SAMHSA, 2022. Results from the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Mental Health Detailed Tables. Table 8.17B.

Adults age 18 and over who received prescription medication as a type of mental health service in the past year, percentage, 2019
Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
5.2	16.6	0.3

Source: SAMHSA, 2022. Results from the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). Mental Health Detailed Tables. Table 8.21B.

Adults age 18 and over with a major depressive episode in the past year who received treatment for depression, percentage, 2022
Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
--	70.2	--

Source: SAMHSA, 2023. Results from the 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Mental Health Detailed Tables. Table 6.41B. For the definition of “major depressive episode,” see Appendix A.

¹ CDC, 2023. Health, United States, 2020–2021. Table SuicMort. (back)

² SAMHSA, 2022. Results from the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). Mental Health Detailed Tables. Table 8.17B. (back)

Last Edited: 10/07/2024