Attitudes Toward Professional Psychological Help Seeking in South Asian Students: Role of Stigma and Gender

Abstract

This study examined (a) the roles of perceived and personal stigma on attitudes toward professional psychological help seeking and (b) the effects of these constructs across gender in South Asians. Personal stigma and being male was negatively associated with attitudes toward professional psychological help seeking; no difference in the association between personal and perceived stigma and attitudes across genders was found. These findings have implications for the engagement of South Asians in mental health services in the United States. Este estudio examinó (a) los roles de estigmas percibidos y personales en las actitudes hacia la búsqueda de ayuda psicológica profesional y (b) los efectos de estos constructos en indiviuos sudasiáticos según su sexo. El estigma personal y la identidad masculina se asociaron negativamente con las actitudes hacia la búsqueda de ayuda psicológica profesional; no se halló diferencia en la asociación entre estigmas personales y percibidos y las actitudes de los distintos sexos. Estos hallazgos tienen implicaciones para la participación de los individuos sudasiáticos en los servicios de salud mental en Estados Unidos.

Within These Walls: Exploring the Mental Health Experiences of First Generation South Asian Women in Toronto Canada

“…All of the research studies looked at different mental health stressors that have impacted participants. Academic pressure, family conflict, relationship stress such as marriage, dating, and opposite-gender interactions, financial stress, divorce, climatic and food change, loss of social support, discrimination were all stressors that were mentioned to have negatively impacted participant's mental health (Ahmad, Shik, Vanza, Cheung, George, & Stewart, 2005;Chew-Graham, Bashir, Chantler, Burman, & Batsleer, 2002;Hussain & Cochrane, 2002;Islam, Multani, Hynie, Shakya, McKenzie, 2017;Samuel, 2009;Tummala-Narra, Deshpande, & Kaur, 2016;Arora, Metz, & Carlson, 2016;Inman, 2006;Masood, Okazaki, & Takeuchi, 2009;Surood & Lai, 2010).…”

“…Acculturation and acculturative stress were mentioned when discussing the mental health experiences and struggles of participants in eight of the research studies (Ahmad et al, & Stewart, 2005;Hussain & Cochrane, 2002;Islam et al, 2017;Samuel, 2009;Tummala-Narra et al, 2016;Arora et al, 2016;Inman, 2006;Surood & Lai, 2010). Acculturation was conceptualized as a multidimensional process that involves participating in heritage culture and/or new culture and developing a sense of biculturalism where immigrant-origin individuals maintain a connection to the heritage culture while adopting values, beliefs, and behaviours of the new culture (Samuel, 2009, p. 17).…”

“…Participants across eight of the research studies reported both systemic-level and family and community-level barriers to mental health service access (Ahmad et al, 2005;Arora et al, 2016;Chew-Graham et al, 2002;Hussain & Cochrane, 2002;Islam et al, 2017;Samuel, 2009;Tummala-Narra et al, 2016;and Surood & Lai, 2010). At the mental health system level, participants noted the lack of South Asian mental health professionals in the field, lack of representation of people of South Asian background in mental health promotion, long wait times, prohibitive fees for services not covered by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP), lack of professionals specialized in youth issues, and lack of variety in terms of models of mental health care (Islam et al, 2017).…”

“…Participants shared that their cultural values discouraged self-disclosure outside the family, and valued emotional restraint, self-control, and social conformity. These cultural attitudes deterred them from seeking mental health services as a public display of emotional instability may be viewed as a poor reflection on the individual as well as on their family and/or community (Arora et al, 2016).…”

“…For this literature review, four quantitative studies were selected (Arora et al, 2016;Inman, 2006;Masood et al, 2009;Surood & Lai, 2010). In addition, six of the studies used a qualitative methodology (Ahmad et al, 2005;Chew-Graham et al, 2002;Hussain & Cochrane, 2002;Islam et al, 2017;Samuel, 2009;Tummala-Narra et al, 2016).…”