Asian international students' ethnic identity, spirituality, acculturation, and experience of racism: relationship with attitude toward seeking professional therapeutic help

Reviewing acculturation and Asian Americans: How acculturation affects health, adjustment, school achievement, and counseling.

“…Understanding how ethnic background affects attitudes toward counseling or psychotherapy can be of major interest to researchers and practitioners (Hwang, 2006; Leong, 2007). High acculturation is associated with greater willingness to seek professional help for psychological problems (Santiago, 2007). Atkinson and Gim (1989) surveyed 557 Chinese American, Japanese American, and Korean American students and found high acculturated students were more likely to recognize needing psychological services, more open to discussing problems, and more tolerant of the stigma linked with psychological help.…”

Barriers and facilitators associated with the use of mental health services among immigrant students in high-income countries: A systematic scoping review

“…Authors have indicated that strong ethnic identity, adherence to traditional values or cultural pressure on immigrant students, particularly Asians, may inhibit their openness and willingness to use mental health services (n = 8). For example, Santiago’s 2006 study indicated that the Asian identity of international students, particularly those from the Far East (e.g., China, Japan, both Koreas), who strongly adhere to traditional Asian values, would be a barrier [ 88 ]. Xie’s 2008 study of Chinese international students in the U.S. shows that many participants had an ambivalent attitude toward counseling; on an intellectual level, they thought that counseling could be helpful, but on a more personal level, they doubted the effectiveness because their cultural background would not be understood during such counseling [ 64 ].…”

“…Studies have suggested that immigrant students from Western countries tend to be more inclined to utilize services compared to those from non-Western backgrounds [ 72 , 74 ]. Santiago’s research has also indicated that South Asian students are more prone to using mental health services compared to their peers from other Asian countries, such as those in the Far East [ 88 ]. It seems that individuals who do not strongly adhere to traditional Asian values are more open to integrating with the Western culture and utilizing mental health services [ 84 ].…”

“…For instance, in Lian et al’s study in 2020, some immigrant students reported using mental health services after receiving advice or information from a friend, relative, or partner [ 24 ]. Interestingly, some studies have identified unexpected and counterintuitive facilitators, such as stress arising from racism [ 88 ], feelings of isolation [ 86 ], or being in the same group as other international students [ 34 ].…”

“…Based on this review, we identified key factors that might enable immigrant students to utilize mental health services in their host countries. First, education and awareness [ 22 , 24 , 35 , 49 – 52 , 55 , 61 – 65 , 67 , 68 , 70 , 71 , 73 – 75 , 77 , 79 , 84 , 87 , 88 , 103 ]. Thus, there is a need for concerted effort by host countries to provide adequate and on ongoing accessible information to immigrant students in their countries on the importance of accessing mental health care.…”