Cultural mistrust, opinions about mental illness, and Black students' attitudes toward seeking psychological help from White counselors.

Nickerson, Kim J.; Helms, Janet E.; Terrell, Francis

doi:10.1037/0022-0167.41.3.378

Cited by 188 publications

(164 citation statements)

References 38 publications

(47 reference statements)

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“…Previous studies assumed that prior negative attitudes 7 among African Americans and mistrust 8 of White providers accounted for lower use of services at times of need. In contrast, our results suggest that African Americans have comparable and, in most instances, more favorable attitudes toward seeking care for their mental illness than do their White counterparts.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, African Americans may have a higher prevalence of mental illness because they tend to be poorer than Whites. 6,7 Along with economic barriers, African Americans may have prior negative attitudes 7 toward seeking care, which may explain their mistrust of White providers 8 and subsequent lower use of mental health services, particularly at times of need.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Racial/ethnic differences in attitudes toward seeking professional mental health services

2001

Am J Public Health

122

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OBJECTIVES: This study examined racial/ethnic differences in attitudes toward seeking mental health services. METHODS: Data from the National Comorbidity Survey, which administered a structured diagnostic interview to a representative sample of the US population (N = 8098), were analyzed. Multiple logistic regression was used, and data were stratified by need for mental health services. RESULTS: African Americans with depression were more likely than Whites with depression to "definitely go" (odds ratio [OR] = 1.8, P < .001) seek mental health services. African Americans with severe psychiatric disorders were less likely to be "somewhat embarrassed if friends knew they sought care" (OR = 0.3, P < .001) than were their White counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: African Americans reported more positive attitudes toward seeking mental health services than did Whites.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Racial/ethnic differences in attitudes toward seeking professional mental health services

2001

Am J Public Health

122

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“…Issues identified as barriers to treatment seeking have been noted previously in the literature. Despite acknowledgement of the need for services and perhaps consistent with the focus on serious and persistent mental illness, participants noted that stigma, costs, and knowledge of available services affected treatment seeking (Mutchler & Burr, 1991;Nickerson et al, 1994;Silva de Crane & Spielberger, 1981;Terrell & Terrell, 1984).…”

Section: Applications and Implications For Clinical Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Terrell and Terrell (1984) suggested that African Americans who rated high in mistrust were more likely to terminate therapy prematurely. Nickerson, Helms, and Terrell (1994) reported that African American students who rated high in cultural mistrust of White Americans were less likely to visit the campus counseling center. Thus, issues of trust may be relevant to African Americans' attitudes toward mental health and service usage.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

African Americans' Perceptions of Psychotherapy and Psychotherapists.

Thompson¹,

Bazile²,

Akbar³

2004

Professional Psychology: Research and Practice

341

286

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Do you have a multicultural practice? Do you understand the attitudes and expectations African Americans hold about mental health services? The attitudes and beliefs of 201 African Americans regarding psychotherapists, psychotherapy, and barriers to treatment were explored by means of focus groups. Key barriers to service utilization included stigma, lack of knowledge, lack of affordability, lack of trust, impersonal service, and lack of cultural understanding. Participants reported that race should not matter in therapy, but they often believed that psychologists were insensitive to the African American experience. The implications of participants' reports for meeting African American mental health and therapy needs are considered.Although psychologists are aware of the differential pattern of use and response to mental health services among ethnic clients, the in-depth understanding that would permit development of appropriate responses and programs is limited. Psychologists often struggle with whether, when, and how efforts to address issues of race, ethnicity, and culture will affect mental health attitudes and therapeutic response. The focus group is a qualitative research strategy that uses a semistructured discussion format to elicit a more in-depth understanding of the attitudes, values, and beliefs that affect behavior (Stewart & Shamdasani, 1990). Although this strategy sacrifices the rigor and precision of quantitative studies, it is a useful preliminary strategy that allows members of communities to share their insights on relevant issues and their opinions about how needs and concerns might be addressed. The current study represents a preliminary effort to understand what values and concerns may affect African American mental health attitudes and service use, as well as what efforts by the psychological community may prove beneficial in promoting an image of multicultural sensitivity and competence.African Americans have been identified as a group that uses mental health services inconsistently (Kessler et al., 1994;D. W. Sue & Sue, 1990). Research has documented the overuse of inpatient services and the over-and underuse of outpatient services depending on the setting and problem (Atkinson, Morten, & Sue, 1998). More recently, Snowden (1999) noted a mixed pattern of usage when sociodemographic differences and diagnoses were not controlled. However, controlled analyses indicated that African Americans in a community sample were consistently less likely than White Americans to seek mental health services.The National Survey of Black Mental Health (Jackson, Neighbors, & Gurin, 1986) indicated that African Americans sought services as a result of referrals by physicians, family members, or friends and tended to contact physicians, ministers, and hospitals; only 9% of those surveyed used the services of psychologists, psychiatrists, or community mental health facilities. African Americans have been found to average fewer sessions and to terminate from outpatient mental health services earlier than White ...

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“…This predominant emphasis on the risks of self-disclosure appears to be a common experienceevidence suggests that clients report feeling anxious and vulnerable before self-disclosure (Farber et al 2004). Moreover, for ethnic minority and immigrant clients, beliefs regarding self-disclosure may be even more convoluted due to factors such as unfamiliarity with mainstream psychotherapy's emphasis on client self-disclosure, cultural mistrust toward providers, and stigmatizing beliefs related to seeking help for emotional distress (Nickerson et al 1994). Studies suggest that ethnic minority and immigrant clients are less likely to selfdisclose with a Caucasian provider due to fears of discrimination and unfair treatment (Chang and Berk 2009) and more likely to disclose willingly to racially similar providers (Helms and Carter 1991;Thompson et al 2004).…”

Section: Intentions To Seek Professional Helpmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conceptualizing Culturally Infused Engagement and Its Measurement for Ethnic Minority and Immigrant Children and Families

Yasui

Pottick

Chen

2017

Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev

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Despite the central role culture plays in racial and ethnic disparities in mental health among ethnic minority and immigrant children and families, existing measures of engagement in mental health services have failed to integrate culturally specific factors that shape these families' engagement with mental health services. To illustrate this gap, the authors systematically review 119 existing instruments that measure the multi-dimensional and developmental process of engagement for ethnic minority and immigrant children and families. The review is anchored in a new integrated conceptualization of engagement, the culturally infused engagement model. The review assesses culturally relevant cognitive, attitudinal, and behavioral mechanisms of engagement from the stages of problem recognition and help seeking to treatment participation that can help illuminate the gaps. Existing measures examined four central domains pertinent to the process of engagement for ethnic minority and immigrant children and families: (a) expressions of mental distress and illness, (b) causal explanations of mental distress and illness, (c) beliefs about mental distress and illness, and (d) beliefs and experiences of seeking help. The findings highlight the variety of tools that are used to measure behavioral and attitudinal dimensions of engagement, showing the limitations of their application for ethnic minority and immigrant children and families. The review proposes directions for promising research methodologies to help intervention scientists and clinicians improve engagement and service delivery and reduce disparities among ethnic minority and immigrant children and families at large, and recommends practical applications for training, program planning, and policymaking.

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Cultural mistrust, opinions about mental illness, and Black students' attitudes toward seeking psychological help from White counselors.

Cited by 188 publications

References 38 publications

Racial/ethnic differences in attitudes toward seeking professional mental health services

Racial/ethnic differences in attitudes toward seeking professional mental health services

African Americans' Perceptions of Psychotherapy and Psychotherapists.

Conceptualizing Culturally Infused Engagement and Its Measurement for Ethnic Minority and Immigrant Children and Families

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