Mental Illness Stigma in Black, Latina/o, and Asian Americans

Bibliographic Data

ID2073573
AuthorsAndrew M Subica (0000-0001-6424-7668, University of California, Riverside, corresponding author), Bruce G Link (0000-0001-9980-7450, University of California, Riverside)
Year2024
Volume13
Issue1
Pages463-474
Publication date2024-12-18
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2196-8837 • E-ISSN: 2197-3792
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s40615-024-02259-8
PMID39695056
OpenAlexW4405515491
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited68

Mental illness stigma has significant psychiatric consequences and can impede mental health treatment seeking, especially among racial minority groups; who are understudied in stigma research and experience striking treatment disparities. Guided by a novel empirical model of racial minority stigma and treatment seeking, this study investigated stigma and its effects on treatment seeking in Black, Latina/o, and Asian American adults. Data were collected via national panel survey from 613 Black, Latina/o, and Asian American adults. Perceptions of mental illness including seriousness, treatability, causal attributions, desired social distancing, and perceived dangerousness were assessed. Data were analyzed and compared with a nationally representative sample of the U.S. public from the 2018 General Social Survey. Minority participants exhibited stronger mental illness stigma than the U.S. public, with Black, Latina/o, and Asian American participants largely perceiving mental illness as less serious, less treatable, and desiring greater social distance from individuals with major depression, who were perceived as potentially dangerous. Notably, different stigma components significantly associated with willingness to seek treatment differently across Black, Latina/o, and Asian American participants. Overall, study findings indicate that mental illness stigma is strong and associates with treatment seeking in Black, Latina/o, and Asian Americans, suggesting a need to develop culturally tailored interventions to reduce stigma and associated treatment utilization disparities in these underserved minority groups

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Disease · Ethnic group · Family medicine · Help-seeking · Mental health · Mental illness · Prejudice (legal term · Psychiatry · Psychological intervention · Public health · Social distance · Social stigma · Stigma (botany · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Clinical Psychology · Medicine · Mental Health Treatment and Access · Psychology · Social Psychology · Suicide and Self-Harm Studies