Open AccessAfrican American and European American veterans’ perspectives on receiving mental health treatment.
Author(s) -
Frank Castro,
Christopher G. AhnAllen,
Shan Wiltsey Stirman,
Kristin Lester-Williams,
Julie KlunkGillis,
Alexandra M. Dick,
Patricia A. Resick
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
psychological services
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.855
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1939-148X
pISSN - 1541-1559
DOI - 10.1037/a0038702
Subject(s) - veterans affairs , mental health , psychological intervention , race (biology) , african american , psychology , public health , mental health care , health care , clinical psychology , medicine , gerontology , psychiatry , political science , nursing , gender studies , ethnology , sociology , law , history
Little is known about client attitudes, especially veterans', toward the types of structured interventions that are increasingly being offered in public sector and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs mental health clinics, nor is the possible impact these attitudes may have on treatment engagement well understood. Previous work indicates that attitudes of African Americans and European Americans toward treatment may differ in important ways. Attitudes toward treatment have been a proposed explanation for lower treatment engagement and higher dropout rates among African Americans compared with European Americans. Yet to date, the relationship between race and attitudes toward treatment and treatment outcomes has been understudied and the findings inconclusive. The purpose of this study was to explore African American and European American veteran attitudes toward mental health care, especially as they relate to structured treatments. Separate focus groups were conducted with 24 African American and 37 European American military veterans. In general, both groups reported similar reasons for seeking 0treatment and similar thoughts regarding the purpose of therapy. Differences emerged primarily regarding therapist preferences. In both groups, some participants expressed favorable opinions of structured treatments and others expressed negative views; treatment preferences did not appear to be influenced by race.