Mental Health Help-Seeking Behaviors Among Asian American Community College Students: The Effect of Stigma, Cultural Barriers, and Acculturation

Abstract

According to the 2008 U.S. Census, there are 15.5 million Asian Americans in the United States, and 17% are students enrolled in a university (Shea & Yeh, 2008). Asian American college students in higher education are oftentimes perceived as the “model minority” with high academic achievements and few mental and/or behavioral problems (Park, 2010). In contrast to this general assumption, studies have shown that many Asian American college students suffer from psychological distress (Abe-Kim et al., 2007; Breaux, Matsuoka, & Ryujin, 1997; Lee et al., 2009; Mallinckrodt, Shigeoka, & Suzuki, 2005; Nguyen & Anderson, 2005). In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2008) highlighted considerable disparities in mental health among racial/ethnic groups, including the fact that Asian Americans 15–24 years old have significantly higher suicidal rates than do other racial/ethnic groups of the same age range. Researchers have attributed this mental health disparity to Asian students’ underutilization of professional services. Consequently, a growing number of empirical studies have been conducted to identify the contributors to low mental health service utilization (Abe-Kim et al., 2007; Kim & Park, 2009; Lee et al., 2009; Nguyen & Anderson, 2005; Umemoto, 2004). These studies have found that acculturation, cultural barriers, and stigma attached to mental health problems are common factors that significantly contribute to Asian American college students’ low mental-health-seeking behaviors. However, based on the authors’ knowledge, these studies have focused on Asian American students who attend 4-year colleges. There is very little known about Asian American students attending 2-year community colleges, who comprise over 40% of Asian American undergraduates enrolled in higher education (Park, 2010).

Variables Related to Academic Help‐Seeking Behaviour in Higher Education – Findings from a Multidisciplinary Perspective

“…From the 168 studies included in this review, only three used a mixed‐method study design. In addition, three studies ‒ Czyz et al , , DiRamio et al , and Han & Pong, ‒ were conducted in the area of psychological help‐seeking. All studies in the area of academic help‐seeking used a quantitative research design.…”

Help Seeking Behavior in a Diverse Sample of Asian American Adults

“…Finally, individual-level factors associated with underutilization of mental health services include sex (being male), greater perceived need, illness conceptualizations, greater distrust of mental health professionals, experiencing psychological distress, and greater mental health stigma (Abe- Kim et al, 2002;Bauer, Chen, Alegría, 2012;Clement et al, 2015;Han & Pong, 2015;Kayaalp, 2016). Kam et al, (2018) reported that Asian American college students (compared to African American, Latina/o, and White students) reported more stigma surrounding mental health services, more distrust of mental health professionals and less interpersonal openness regarding their own difficulties.…”

Resilience, Acculturative Stress and Family Norms against Disclosure of Mental Health Problems among Foreign-Born Filipino American Women

“…Acculturative stress refers to behavioral responses to acculturation that indicate poor mental health, psychosomatic symptoms, and identity confusion (Berry et al, 1987). The influence of family norms is also important because many Asian Americans are reluctant to disclose mental health problems in order to prevent shame in the family (Sanchez and Gaw, 2007), resulting in low rates of help-seeking behaviors such as pursuing mental health services (Augsberger et al, 2015; Han and Pong, 2015).…”