Abstract
This study examines the predictors of mentalhealth service use among patients in an ethnicallydiverse public-care women's clinic. While waiting fortheir clinic appointments, 187 Latina, African American, and White women were interviewed about theirattitudes towards mental illness and mental healthservices. White women were much more likely to have madea mental health visit in the past than the ethnic minority women. Having a substance use problem,use of mental health services by family or friends, andbeliefs about causes of mental illness were allpredictors of making a mental health visit.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Castro, F. G., Furth, P., & Karlow, H. (1984). The health beliefs of Mexican, Mexican American, and Anglo American women. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 6, 365-383.
DeFigueredo, J. M. & Boerstler, H. (1988). The relationship of presenting complaints to the use of psychiatric services in a low-income group. American Journal of Psychiatry, 145, 1145-1148.
Edgerton, R. B., & Karno, M. (1971). Mexican-American bilingualism and the perception of mental illness. Archives of General Psychiatry, 24, 286-290.
Fischer, E. H., & Turner, J. I. (1970). Orientation to seeking professional help: Development and research utility of an attitude scale. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 35, 79-90.
Hough, R. L, Landsverk, J. A., Karno, M., Burnam, M. A., Timbers, D. M., Escobar, J. L., & Regier, D. A. (1987). Utilization of health and mental health services by Los Angeles Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic Whites. Archives of General Psychiatry, 44, 702-709.
Hunt, L. M., Jordan, B., & Irwin, S. (1989). Views of what's wrong? Diagnosis and patients concepts of illness. Social Science and Medicine, 28, 945-956.
Keefe, S. E. (1981). Folk medicine among urban Mexican Americans: Cultural persistence, change, and displacement. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 3, 41-58.
Kessler, R. C., McGonagle, K. A., Zhao, S., Nelson, C. B., Hughes, M., Eshleman, S., Wittchen, H., & Kendler, K. S. (1994). Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of DSM-III-R Psychiatric Disorders in the United States. Archives of General Psychiatry, 51, 8-19.
Kessler, R. C., Nelson, C. B., McGonagle, K. A., Edlund, M. J., Frank, R. G., & Leaf, P. L. (1996). The epidemiology of co-occurring addictive and mental disorders: Implications for prevention and service utilization. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 66, 17-31.
Landrine, H., & Klonoff, E. A. (1994). Cultural diversity in causal attributions for illness: The role of the supernatural. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 17, 181-193.
Leaf, P. J., Bruce, M. L., & Tischler, G. L. (1986). The differential effect of attitudes on the use of mental health services. Social Psychiatry, 21, 187-192.
Leaf, P. J., Bruce, M. L., Tischler, G. L., & Holzer, C. E. (1987). The relationship between demographic factors and attitudes towards mental health services. Journal of Community Psychology, 15, 275-284.
Maduro, R. (1983). Curanderismoand Latino views of disease and curing. Western Journal of Medicine, 139, 858-874.
Marín, G., Sabogal, F., Marín, B. V., Otero-Sabogal, R., & Pérez-Stable, E. (1987). Development of a short acculturation scale for Hispanics. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 9, 183-205.
Millet, P. E., Sullivan, B. F., Schwebel, A. I., Myers, L. J. (1996). Black Americans' and White Americans' views of the etiology and treatment of mental health problems. Community Mental Health Journal, 32, 235-242.
Miranda, J., Azocar, F., Kamaromy, M., & Golding, J. M. (1998). Unmet mental health needs of women in public care sector gynecology clinics. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 178, 212-217.
Norquist, G., & Wells, K. (1991). Mental health needs of the uninsured. Archives of General Psychiatry, 48, 475-478.
Padgett, D. K., Patrick, C., Burns, B. J., & Schlesinger, H. J. (1994a). Ethnic differences in use of inpatient mental health services by Blacks, Whites, and Hispanics in a national insured population. Health Services Research, 29, 135-153.
Padgett, D. K., Patrick, C., Burns, B. J., & Schlesinger, H. J. (1994b). Ethnicity and the use of outpatient mental health services in a national insured population. American Journal of Public Health, 84, 222-226.
Padgett, D. K., Patrick, C., Burns, B. J., & Schlesinger, H. J. (1994c). Women and outpatient mental health services: Use by Black, Hispanic, and White women in a national insured population. Journal of Mental Health Administration, 21, 347-360.
Padilla, A. M., & Salgado de Snyder, V. N. (1988). Psychology in pre-Columbian Mexico. Hispanic Journal of the Behavioral Sciences, 10, 55-66.
Robbins, J. M., & Greenley, J. R. (1983). Thinking about what's wrong: Attributions of severity, cause, and duration in the problem definition stage of psychiatric help-seeking. Research in Community and Mental Health, 3, 209-232.
Sabogal, F., Marín, G., Otero-Sabogal, R., Marín, B., & Pérez-Stable, E. J. (1987). Hispanic familism and acculturation: What changes and what doesn't? Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 9, 397-412.
Scheffler, R. M., & Miller, A. G. (1989). Demand analysis of mental health service use among ethnic subpopulations. Inquiry, 26, 202-215.
Silva de Crane, R., & Spielberger, C. D. (1981). Attitudes of Hispanic, Black, and Caucasian university students toward mental illness. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 3, 241-255.
Snow, L. (1983). Traditional health beliefs and practices among lower class Black Americans. Western Journal of Medicine, 139, 820-828.
Snowden, L. R., Cheung, F. K. (1990). Use of inpatient mental health services by members of ethnic minority groups. American Psychologist, 45, 347-355.
Spitzer, R. L., Williams, J. B. W., Kroenke, K., Linzer, M., deGruy, F. V., Hahn, S. R., Brody, D., & Johnson, J. G. (1994). Utility of a new procedure for diagnosing mental disorders in primary care: The Prime-MD 1000 study. Diagnosing mental disorders. Journal of the American Medical Association, 272, 1749-1756.
Sue, S., Fujino, D. C., Hu, L., Takeuchi, D. T., & Zane, N. W.S. (1991). Community mental health services for ethnic minority groups: A test of the cultural responsiveness hypothesis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59, 533-540.
Sussman, L. K., Robins, L. N., & Earls, F. (1987). Treatment-seeking for depression by black and white Americans. Social Science and Medicine, 24, 187-196.
Takeuchi, D. T., Leaf, P. J., & Kuo, H. S. (1988). Ethnic differences in the perception of barriers to help-seeking. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 23, 273-280.
Taube, C. A., & Rupp, A. (1986). The effect of Medicaid on access to ambulatory mental health care for the poor and near-poor under 65. Medical Care, 24, 677-686.
Temkin-Greener, H., & Clark, K. T. (1988). Ethnicity, gender, and utilization of mental health services in a Medicaid population. Social Science and Medicine, 26, 989-996.
Vernon, S. W., & Roberts, R. E. (1982). Prevalence of treated and untreated psychiatric disorders in three ethnic groups. Social Science and Medicine, 16, 1575-1582.
Wells, K. B., Hough, R. L., Golding, J. M., Burnam, M. A., & Karno, M. (1987). Which Mexican Americans underutilize health services? American Journal of Psychiatry, 144, 918-922.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Alvidrez, J. Ethnic Variations in Mental Health Attitudes and Service Use Among Low-Income African American, Latina, and European American Young Women. Community Ment Health J 35, 515–530 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018759201290
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018759201290