Premium
Mental health service utilization among African immigrants in the United States
Author(s) -
Saasa Sherinah K.,
Rai Abha,
Malazarte Nikki,
YirenyaTawiah Abena E.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/jcop.22602
Subject(s) - mental health , logistic regression , gerontology , public health , acculturation , immigration , medicine , service (business) , population , odds ratio , depression (economics) , mental health literacy , psychology , environmental health , nursing , psychiatry , mental illness , business , geography , archaeology , pathology , marketing , economics , macroeconomics
This study utilized Andersen's model of health behavior to explore factors associated with mental health service utilization. We also examine rates for mental health service use, treatment preferences, and barriers to care. Data were collected utilizing web‐based surveys. The sample consisted of first and second‐generation African immigrants who had struggled with emotional or behavioral problems in the past 12 months ( N = 323). Hierarchical logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine predictors of mental health service utilization. The majority of participants (79.5%) met criteria for probable major depression, and 63% sought mental health services. Findings showed that mental health service utilization was more significantly predicted by enabling and need factors. Age (odds ratio [OR] = 1.03), religiosity (OR = 1.11), acculturative stress (OR = 1.68), neighborhood risk (OR = 0.54), and work‐productivity loss (OR = 2.93) were associated with increased likelihood of mental health service use ( p < 0.05). Most common barriers to service use were hopes of self‐healing (56.3%) followed by financial barriers (46.2%). Findings highlight the need for public health initiatives to increase mental health literacy and financial accessibility to mental health services in response to the high mental health need and identified barriers to care in this population.