Mental Health and Service Utilization Among Asian Indians in the United States: A Scoping Review

Asian Indians living in the United States (US) are severely underrepresented in mental health research. Though there are more studies on Asian Indian mental health now than there was a decade ago, much remains unknown including the experience and prevalence of mental health disorders, service utilization, impact of cultural influences, and barriers and facilitators in seeking mental health support and treatment. The purpose of this scoping review was to examine mental health and mental health service utilization among Asian Indians in the US.

We conducted a scoping review of published literature. Two reviewers independently screened 2965 articles for potential inclusion-2205 were excluded based on title and abstract review alone and 690 on full-text review. An additional 8 articles identified during full-text review resulted in a total of 45 articles included in the scoping review.

Of the 45 studies, 33 used a quantitative design, 4 studies used a multiple or mixed methods design, and 8 used a qualitative design. Given the broad theme of our research question and since the final list of studies included varied widely in their focus and methods, we present our results using descriptive, narrative synthesis.

Cultural values, familial roles and support, and stigma significantly impact both mental health and help-seeking behaviors of Asian Indians. There are major gaps in the literature surrounding child and youth mental health, mental health disorders, and pathways to mental health care. These findings are discussed in the context of relevance for practice, policy, and the need for high-quality research.