Mental health help-seeking behaviours of East Asian immigrants: a scoping review

Background: The global immigrant population is increasing annually, and Asian immigrants have a substantial representation within the immigrant population. Due to a myriad of challenges such as acculturation, discrimination, language, and financial issues, immigrants are at high risk of mental health conditions. However, a large-scale mapping of the existing literature regarding these issues has yet to be completed.Objective: This study aimed to investigate the mental health conditions, help-seeking behaviours, and factors affecting mental health service utilization among East Asian immigrants residing in Western countries.Method: This study adopted the scoping review methodology based on the Joanna Briggs Institute framework. A comprehensive database search was conducted in May 2024 in PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, Cochrane, and Google Scholar. Search terms were developed based on participants, concept, context framework. The participants were East Asian immigrants and their families, and the concept of interest was mental health help-seeking behaviours and mental health service utilization. Regarding the context, studies targeting East Asian immigrants in Western countries were included. Data were summarized narratively and presented in a tabular and word cloud format.Results: Out of 1990 studies, 31 studies were included. East Asian immigrants often face mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, and suicidal behaviours. They predominantly sought help from informal sources such as family, friends, religion, and complementary or alternative medicine, rather than from formal sources such as mental health clinics or healthcare professionals. Facilitators of seeking help included recognizing the need for professional help, experiencing severe symptoms, higher levels of acculturation, longer length of stay in the host country. Barriers included stigma, cultural beliefs, and language barriers.Conclusions: The review emphasizes the need for culturally tailored interventions to improve mental health outcomes in this vulnerable population. These results can guide future research and policymaking to address mental health disparities in immigrant communities.