Subica Andrew M, Link Bruce G
Riverside School of Medicine, Department of Social Medicine, Population, and Public Health, University of California, 900 University Ave, Riverside, CA, 92521, U.S.A..
Riverside School of Public Policy, University of California, 900 University Ave, Riverside, CA, 92521, U.S.A.
J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2024 Dec 18. doi: 10.1007/s40615-024-02259-8.
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.
精神疾病污名化具有重大的精神后果，会阻碍人们寻求心理健康治疗，尤其是在少数族裔群体中；少数族裔群体在污名化研究中未得到充分研究，且面临显著的治疗差距。本研究以一种新颖的少数族裔污名化与寻求治疗的实证模型为指导，调查了黑人、拉丁裔和亚裔美国成年人中的污名化现象及其对寻求治疗的影响。通过全国性面板调查收集了613名黑人、拉丁裔和亚裔美国成年人的数据。评估了对精神疾病的认知，包括严重性、可治疗性、因果归因、期望的社会距离以及感知到的危险性。对数据进行了分析，并与2018年综合社会调查中具有全国代表性的美国公众样本进行了比较。少数族裔参与者表现出比美国公众更强的精神疾病污名化，黑人、拉丁裔和亚裔美国参与者大多认为精神疾病不那么严重、更难治疗，并且希望与患有重度抑郁症的人保持更大的社会距离，认为他们可能具有危险性。值得注意的是，不同的污名化成分在黑人、拉丁裔和亚裔美国参与者中与寻求治疗的意愿存在显著不同的关联。总体而言，研究结果表明，精神疾病污名化在黑人、拉丁裔和亚裔美国人中很强烈，且与寻求治疗有关联，这表明需要制定针对文化的干预措施，以减少这些未得到充分服务的少数族裔群体中的污名化现象及相关的治疗利用差距。
