Taonga: grandchildren the treasures of grandparents

Terns in a multi-ethnic sample of 125 depressed women seeking treatment for depression. Forty-six African American, 36 Caucasian Americans, and 43 Latina women were recruited and interviewed about their beliefs about their illness and their help-seeking. Results indicated that Latinas were significantly more likely than Caucasian Americans to believe that their illness was caused by traditional reasons (e.g., energy imbalance). African Americans were more likely to use spiritual resources (e.g., prayer, church) to deal with their problems than Caucasian Americans or Latinas. Caucasian Americans were more likely to use lay help (e.g., self care, friends and relatives) than Latinas. No ethnic differences in stigma for depressive illness were found. However, the belief in psychological or magico-religious-supernatural causes was associated with increased stigma, but medical and traditional causes were not. Traditional and magic-religious-supernatural causes of illness were associated with using general health care, while psychological and medicinal causes were associated with seeking spiritual care. Additional research is needed to help us to understand how beliefs about the causes of illness and attitudes towards various sources of care interact to influence help-seeking practices.