Barriers to Mental Health Help Seeking at School for Asian– and Latinx–American Adolescents

• Published in: School mental health 2020-03, Vol.12 (1), p.182-194
• Main Authors: Wang, Cixin, Barlis, Julia, Do, Kieu Anh, Chen, Jingqiu, Alami, Sandra
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescents; Asian American Students; Attitudes; Barriers; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Child and School Psychology; Clinical Psychology; College students; Depression (Psychology); Developmental Psychology; Eating Disorders; Education; Health education; Health literacy; Health services; Help Seeking; Help seeking behavior; High School Students; Hispanic American Students; Knowledge Level; Mental disorders; Mental Health; Mental health care; Mental Health Programs; Middle School Students; Minority & ethnic groups; Original Paper; Peers; Perceptions; Psychology; School Health Services; Secondary school students; Secondary schools; Stigma; Student Attitudes; Teenagers
• ISSN: 1866-2625; 1866-2633
• DOI: 10.1007/s12310-019-09344-y

Adolescents are most likely to receive mental health services in schools compared to other settings; however, few studies have examined barriers to mental health help seeking at school for ethnic minority adolescents. The current mixed-methods study utilized surveys and semi-structured interviews to explore the mental health literacy (MHL), stigma toward mental illness, and perceived barriers toward help seeking at middle or high schools among 55 adolescents (81.8% female; 50.0% Asian–American, 44.6% Latinx–American, 5.4% Asian/Latinx bi-racial; M age = 17.13 years, SD = 2.33). Participants’ MHL was assessed using case vignettes that depicted adolescents with symptoms of depression or bulimia. Overall, 83.9% of participants correctly recognized depression and 57.1% correctly recognized bulimia from the vignettes. Stigma correlated with perceived helpfulness of the formal service providers ( r  = − .37, p