Cultural mistrust and mental health help-seeking attitudes among Filipino Americans.

As low as the rate of mental health help-seeking is among Asian Americans, Filipino Americans seek mental health services at a much lower rate even compared with other Asian Americans. Despite the field’s progress in identifying and understanding factors that may influence mental health help-seeking attitudes among Asian Americans, despite research on other minority groups suggesting that cultural mistrust may influence attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help, and despite the abundance of literature documenting the historical and contemporary experiences of oppression by Filipino Americans, the possibility that cultural mistrust may play a significant role in Filipino Americans’ mental health help-seeking attitudes have yet to be empirically investigated. Thus, using a sample of 118 Filipino Americans, the current study demonstrates that higher levels of cultural mistrust is related to lower likelihood of seeking professional psychological help. Furthermore, cultural mistrust predicted variance in mental health help-seeking attitudes that are not accounted for by income, generational status, loss of face, and adherence to Asian cultural values. Implications for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Minority stress, perceived bicultural competence, and depressive symptoms among ethnic minority college students.

Based on biculturalism theory (LaFromboise, Coleman, & Gerton, 1993), the present study examined the direct effect of perceived bicultural competence (PBC) on depressive symptoms, and PBC as a potential coping resource to moderate the association between minority stress and depressive symptoms. Participants were 167 Asian American, African American, and Latino/a American students at a predominantly White Midwest university. Results from a hierarchical regression analysis suggested that (a) minority stress was positively associated with depressive symptoms after controlling for perceived general stress, (b) PBC was negatively associated with depressive symptoms after controlling for perceived general stress and minority stress, and (c) the interaction between minority stress and PBC was significant in predicting depressive symptoms. Results from a simple effect analysis supported the hypothesis that a higher level of PBC buffers the association between minority stress and depressive symptoms. Furthermore, post hoc exploratory analyses of the components of PBC suggested that 2 components, Social Groundedness and Cultural Knowledge, may be especially important coping resources. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dimensions of acculturation: Associations with health risk behaviors among college students from immigrant families.

In the present study, we examined a bidimensional model of acculturation (which includes both heritage and U.S. practices, values, and identifications) in relation to hazardous alcohol use, illicit drug use, unsafe sexual behavior, and impaired driving. A sample of 3,251 first- and second-generation immigrant students from 30 U.S. colleges and universities completed measures of behavioral acculturation; cultural values (individualism, collectivism, and self-construal); ethnic and U.S. identity; and patterns of alcohol and drug use, engagement in potentially unsafe sexual activities, and driving while (or riding with a driver who was) intoxicated. Results indicate that heritage practices and collectivist values were generally protective against health risk behaviors, with collectivist values most strongly and consistently protective. Nonetheless, heritage identifications were positively associated with sexual risk taking for Hispanics. U.S. practices, values, and identifications were not consistently related to risk behavior participation. Results are discussed in terms of bidimensional approaches to acculturation, the immigrant paradox, and implications for counseling practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitudes toward professional counseling among Asian-American college students: Acculturation, conceptions of mental illness, and loss of face.

The present study attempted to examine the influence of culture-bound barriers such as acculturation status, loss of face, and conception of mental health on the attitudes of Asian American college students (n = 134) toward seeking professional psychological help. An adapted Acculturation Attitude Scale (AAS; U. Kim, 1988), Zane's (1991) Loss of Face Scale (LOFS), a 10-factor Conception of Mental Health Scale (CMHS; Nunnally, 1961), and a modified version of the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale (ATSPPHS) with four subscales (Fischer & Turner, 1970) were used in this study. Results support the hypothesis that acculturation and conceptions of mental health were significantly correlated with attitudes toward mental health services. Loss of face was also significantly correlated with attitudes of being open to professional counseling. Implications for mental health professionals working with Asian Americans are highlighted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social psychological correlates of mental illness and mental health.

If there is ever to be a single comprehensive theory and/or research program concerned with the etiology of mental illness, the widely diversified empirical and theoretical findings will have to be meaningfully integrated. The present paper critically reviews theories and research from the environmental-demographic level and the interpersonal level. The large number of phenotypical relationships reported have led only to vaguely formulated and speculative interpretations suggesting the need for a reformulation which will suggest genotypes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Infants' meaning-making and the development of mental health problems.

We argue that infant meaning-making processes are a central mechanism governing both typical and pathological outcomes. Infants, as open dynamic systems, must constantly garner information to increase their complexity and coherence. They fulfill this demand by making nonverbal “meaning”—affects, movements, representations—about themselves in relation to the world and themselves into a “biopsychosocial state of consciousness,” which shapes their ongoing engagement with the world. We focus on the operation of the infant–adult communication system, a dyadic, mutually regulated system that scaffolds infants' engagement with the world of people, things, and themselves, and consequently their meaning-making. We argue that infant mental health problems emerge when the meanings infants make in the moment, which increase their complexity and coherence and may be adaptive in the short run, selectively limit their subsequent engagement with the world and, in turn, the growth of their state of consciousness in the long run. When chronic and iterative, these altered meanings can interfere with infants' successful development and heighten their vulnerability to pathological outcomes. Cultural variations in meaning-making and implications for clinical practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Promoting and protecting mental health as flourishing: A complementary strategy for improving national mental health.

This article summarizes the conception and diagnosis of the mental health continuum, the findings supporting the two continua model of mental health and illness, and the benefits of flourishing to individuals and society. Completely mentally healthy adults--individuals free of a 12-month mental disorder and flourishing--reported the fewest missed days of work, the fewest half-day or greater work cutbacks, the healthiest psychosocial functioning (i.e., low helplessness, clear goals in life, high resilience, and high intimacy), the lowest risk of cardiovascular disease, the lowest number of chronic physical diseases with age, the fewest health limitations of activities of daily living, and lower health care utilization. However, the prevalence of flourishing is barely 20% in the adult population, indicating the need for a national program on mental health promotion to complement ongoing efforts to prevent and treat mental illness. Findings reveal a Black advantage in mental health as flourishing and no gender disparity in flourishing among Whites. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cultural competence and evidence-based practice in mental health services: A complementary perspective.

The need for cultural competence and the need for evidence-based practice in mental health services are major issues in contemporary discourse, especially in the psychological treatment of people of color. Although these 2 paradigms are complementary in nature, there is little cross-fertilization in the psychological literature. The present article illustrates the complementary nature of these 2 paradigms. A main point of convergence is related to the development of culturally adapted interventions in the move from efficacy research to effectiveness studies. The implications of cultural adaptations of empirically supported treatments for mental health services in terms of research and practice with ethnic/racial minority populations are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cultural and contextual influences in mental health help seeking: A focus on ethnic minority youth.

In this article, a mental health help-seeking model is offered as a framework for understanding cultural and contextual factors that affect ethnic minority adolescents' pathways into mental health services. The effects of culture and context are profound across the entire help-seeking pathway, from problem identification to choice of treatment providers. The authors argue that an understanding of these help-seeking pathways provides insights into ethnic group differences in mental health care utilization and that further research in this area is needed, (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictors of mental health among adolescents from immigrant families in Portugal.

The aims of this study were to investigate the degree of mental health problems among adolescents with immigrant background in Portugal and the factors that may predict mental health problems. The study sample consisted of 755 immigrant adolescents from seven ethnocultural groups (Cape Verdeans, Angolans, Indians, Mozambicans, East Timorese, Sao Tomese, and Guineans) and 320 native Portuguese adolescents. Generally, most respondents did not report major psychological adjustment problems. Adolescents from immigrant families reported fewer mental health problems than their native Portuguese counterparts, and girls reported more mental health problems than did boys. Predictive factors—sociodemographic, intercultural contact, and psychosocial adjustment variables—were significantly linked to youths’ mental health. Major predictors of poor psychological adjustment were perceived discrimination, social difficulties, and behavioral problems. As expected, different factors explained the psychological adaptation of adolescents by gender. Implications of the study for counselors are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal violence and mental health outcomes among Asian American and Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander college students.

In a cross-sectional survey of college students (N = 614), we studied interpersonal violence victimization, perpetration, and mental health outcomes in an ethnoracially diverse rural-based sample of Asian Americans (27%) and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islanders (25%), two groups vastly underrepresented in trauma research. High rates of interpersonal violence (34%), violence perpetration (13%), and probable psychiatric diagnoses (77%), including posttraumatic stress disorder, were found. Exposure to physical violence, sexual violence, and life stress all were predictive of psychopathology. Female participants were associated with higher likelihood of sexual violence victimization compared to male participants, and Asian American status (especially among males) was associated with lower likelihood of physical and sexual violence compared with European Americans. These data enhance our understanding of interpersonal violence and mental health outcomes among previously understudied minority groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Acculturation, enculturation, and Asian American college students' mental health and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help.

In the present study, we tested a theoretically and empirically derived partially indirect effects acculturation and enculturation model of Asian American college students' mental health and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help. Latent variable path analysis with 296 self-identified Asian American college students supported the partially indirect effects model and demonstrated the ways in which behavioral acculturation, behavioral enculturation, values acculturation, values enculturation, and acculturation gap family conflict related to mental health and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help directly and indirectly through acculturative stress. We also tested a generational status moderator hypothesis to determine whether differences in model-implied relationships emerged across U.S.- (n = 185) and foreign-born (n = 107) participants. Consistent with this hypothesis, statistically significant differences in structural coefficients emerged across generational status. Limitations, future directions for research, and counseling implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder predictors of mental health treatment use in college students.

The authors examined trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) associations with previous mental health (MH) treatment use in college students while statistically controlling for gender and treatment attitudes. A total of 300 students were recruited for an Internet survey and were administered a modified version of the demographic survey, the Stressful Life Events Screening Questionnaire (L. Goodman, C. Corcoran, K. Turner, N. Yuan, & B. L. Green, 1998), PTSD Symptom Scale-Self-Report (PSS; E. B. Foa, D. S. Riggs, C. V. Dancu, & B. O. Rothbaum, 1993), Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale-Short Form (ATSPPH; E. H. Fischer & A. Farina, 1995), and a MH treatment use survey. Univariate analyses demonstrated that previous MH treatment use was associated with violent crime and noncrime trauma frequency, and treatment attitudes. Controlling for gender and MH treatment attitudes, regression analyses including violent and noncrime trauma and PTSD significantly predicted previous MH service use and recent visit counts; only noncrime trauma and treatment attitudes were significant for service use, and only treatment attitudes was significant for visit counts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Childhood abuse and current health problems among older adults: The mediating role of self-efficacy.

Objectives: Child abuse has negative consequences on health functioning and the self-concept. Prior studies have garnered support for these relationships in younger adults; yet few studies have looked at the effects of abuse on health in older adults and the psychosocial variables, specifically self-efficacy, that may influence the abuse-health relationship. Methods: Data obtained from the Physical Health and Disability Study were used to explore the impact of child abuse on current medical problems among older adults who were screened on physical disability status (N = 1396, Mean age = 67, SD = 10.2). The study was conducted in South Florida and used a multiethnic sample that is representative of the general population in this area. Results: Child abuse was associated with the number of current medical problems and disability. Child abuse was also related to lower self-efficacy, and self-efficacy explained the relationship between abuse and the number of health problems. Conclusions: There are far-reaching effects of child abuse on older adults' health and self-concept. Health care providers and gerontologists need to be aware that child abuse is a lifelong risk factor for increased disability and specific health problems, especially among the elderly. Future research should examine treatments designed to increase self-efficacy, especially among those who experienced child abuse, and observe any positive effects on health functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ethnic identity and personal well-being of people of color: A meta-analysis.

This article summarizes research examining the relationship between the constructs of ethnic identity and personal well-being among people of color in North America. Data from 184 studies analyzed with random effects models yielded an omnibus effect size of r = .17, suggesting a modest relationship between the 2 constructs. The relationship was somewhat stronger among adolescents and young adults than among adults over age 40. No differences were observed across participant race, gender, or socioeconomic status, which findings support the general relevance of ethnic identity across people of color. Studies correlating ethnic identity with self-esteem and positive well-being yielded average effect sizes twice as large as those from studies correlating ethnic identity with personal distress or mental health symptoms. Ethnic identity was thus more strongly related to positive well-being than to compromised well-being. Overall, the corpus of research reviewed consisted of correlational designs; limited scholarship has addressed causal mechanisms, mediating factors, or psychological functions of ethnic identity across different social contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The instability of health cognitions: Visceral states influence self-efficacy and related health beliefs.

Objective: To determine how visceral impulses, such as hunger and drug craving, influence health beliefs. Design: The authors assessed smokers' self-efficacy and intentions to quit while in a randomly assigned state of cigarette craving or noncraving (Study 1), and assessed dieters weight-loss beliefs while hungry or satiated (Study 2). Main outcome measures: Self-efficacy, smoking cessation, weight-loss goals. Results: The authors found, in both the context of smoking and weight-loss, that participants in a cold (e.g., satiated) state had different health beliefs than participants in a hot state (e.g., hungry). Specifically, in Study 1, the authors found that smokers who experienced cigarette craving had lower self-efficacy than did satiated smokers. Consequently, smokers who craved a cigarette had less intention to quit smoking in the future compared with satiated smokers. In Study 2, the authors found that hungry dieters had less self-efficacy than did satiated dieters. This difference led hungry dieters to form less ambitious future weight-loss goals and view prior weight-loss attempts with more satisfaction. Conclusion: These findings contribute to our understanding of the nature of health beliefs and reveal that health beliefs are more dynamic than previously assumed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Strategies for building multicultural competence in mental health and educational settings.

Reviews the book, Stategies for building multicultural competence in mental health and educational settings edited by M. G. Constantine and D. W. Sue (2005). Strategies for Building Multicultural Competence in Mental Health and Educational Settings is an excellent resource designed for mental health professionals who may lack knowledge and expertise in working with diverse clients. It provides hands-on strategies and suggestions in a variety of contexts, using the Multicultural Guidelines as a framework. This book is strongly recommended for clinicians working with culturally diverse populations. The Surgeon General's report Mental Health: Culture, Race and Ethnicity (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2001) clearly demonstrates the disparity in the mental health care of racial and ethnic minorities as compared with Whites. This book is useful not only to novices exploring diversity but also to those who are already cross-culturally competent. The authors successfully apply the APA Multicultural Guidelines in clinical practice and educational, training, and organizational settings while providing specific strategies for clinicians. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Southern regional mental health program focuses on development of training and research.

"The American psychological profession is taking a leading role in the nation's first regional program to improve mental health and combat mental disease which the Southern Regional Education Board is conducting." The program reached its operational stage with the organization of the Southern Regional Council on Mental Health Training and Research in Atlanta on July 11-12, 1955, following 18 months of surveys and planning. The organization, problems, and activities of the Southern program are discussed. State committees have "… agreed that the need for new knowledge is as acute as the personnel shortage." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development and validation of a scale for measuring cynical attitudes toward college.

The purpose of this research was to develop and validate a new measure of undergraduate student cynicism--the Cynical Attitudes Toward College Scale (CATCS). In Study 1, the authors split data collected from 1,049 students representing 3 diverse college populations into development and confirmation samples. Using confirmatory factor analysis, the authors (a) developed an 18-item measurement model reflecting 4 reliable dimensions of student cynicism-policy, academic, social, and institutional; (b) demonstrated cross-sample generalizability; and (c) established convergent and discriminant validity. In Study 2, the authors showed the CATCS's ability to discriminate among diverse groups of students predicted to differ on the 4 subscales as well as to predict future academic outcomes. Practical applications of the CATCS are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Testing the validity of the colonial mentality implicit association test and the interactive effects of covert and overt colonial mentality on Filipino American mental health.

Colonial mentality (CM) has been found to be an important factor for Filipino American mental health. However, the link between CM and mental health may be more complex and might be influenced by whether Filipino American individuals hold covert CM, overt CM, or both. Relatedly, although the Implicit Association Test has been used to capture the covert and automatic aspect of CM, suggesting that this component of CM is less amenable to accurate self-report and introspection, the validity of such a method and its ability to predict mental health variables has yet to be supported. Furthermore, the possibility that the link between overt CM and mental health may be dependent on the covert aspect of CM has yet to be empirically explored. Thus, I examined the construct validity and utility of the Colonial Mentality Implicit Association Test (CMIAT) as a measure of the covert aspect of CM and investigated the interactions between covert and overt CM in predicting mental health among a sample of 102 Filipino Americans. Results suggest that the CMIAT may be a valid and useful tool for capturing the covert and automatic component of CM and that covert CM may be moderating the link between overt CM and mental health. Implications for CM theory and for Filipino American mental health are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)