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Predictors of Help-Seeking for Mental Health Treatment Among Latinos
Robin E Gearing1, Micki Washburn2, Kathryne B Brewer3
1Center for Mental Health Research and Innovation in Treatment Engagement and Service (MH-RITES Research Center), Graduate Collège of Social Work, University of Houston, 3511 Cullen Blvd. Room 301, Houston, TX, 77201-4013, USA. rgearing@uh.edu.
Objectives:
Despite mental health disorders being a leading cause of disability among Latinos, treatment-seeking behaviors are very low. Latinos are confronted with significant disparities in mental health treatment. This research study sought to examine (1) what are the attitudes toward professional help-seeking for mental health concerns among Latino individuals and (2) what participant characteristics and demographic factors are associated with Latino individuals' help-seeking attitudes.
Methods:
Employing a cross-sectional sampling strategy, 469 participants were recruited for a community-based survey study in the greater Houston area measuring mental health stigma and help-seeking attitudes. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate the associations between Latinos' help-seeking attitudes and sociodemographic characteristics of participants.
Results:
Findings indicate that openness towards seeking professional help for mental health concerns is influenced by participants' age, marital status, gender, region of origin, education, public stigma, and self-stigma towards mental health problem. Findings support future research to examine broader systemic factors associated with help seeking and how they interact with sociodemographic characteristics and stigma.
Conclusions:
Latinos, even in parts of the country where they reside in high concentrations, continue to have low levels of mental health service utilization. Understanding the specific pathways that predict help-seeking for mental health issues is essential to systematically promoting early detection and entry into evidence-based treatments for Latinos.
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