Psychological distress, acculturation, and mental health-seeking attitudes among people of African descent in the United States: A preliminary investigation.

Abstract

This article investigates the relationship between psychological distress, acculturation, and help-seeking attitudes among people of African descent (N ϭ 130). Psychological distress was measured using the Global Severity Index from the Brief Symptom Inventory (L. R. Derogatis & N. Melisaratos, 1983), acculturation was measured using the Measurement of Acculturation Strategies for People of African Descent (E. M. Obasi, 2005), and help-seeking attitudes were measured using the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help scale (E. H. Fischer & J. I. Turner, 1970). Overall, as psychological distress increased, attitudes toward seeking professional psychological services became more negative. The negative relationship between psychological distress and confidence in therapist was significantly stronger for participants who expressed a cultural maintenance of traditional beliefs. Future directions for this body of research are discussed.

Content analysis of acculturation research in counseling and counseling psychology: A 22-year review.

“…Second, the mean effect size of the 10 studies (N = 1,751) that examined the No systematic variations in the relationship of acculturation/enculturation and psychological distress/depression or self-esteem were detected by measures or sampling sources. However, Obasi and Leong's (2009) study, which was the only study conducted with African Americans, revealed a moderately significant positive relationship between acculturation and psychological distress (r = .28). This finding was contradictory to the findings of the other studies that indicated either nonsignificant or negative associations between the two variables.…”

“…When the correlation was reported for each subgroup of the sample (e.g., Yeh, 2003), the correlation with the overall sample was coded as the effect size. When the correlations for both acculturation/enculturation total scales and dimensions were reported, we chose the correlations with total scales (e.g., Obasi & Leong, 2009). Four studies reported only standardized regression weights without any information to calculate correlations (e.g., Cavazos-Rehg & DeLucia-Waack, 2009;Rahman & Rollock, 2004;Rodriguez, Mira, Morris, & Cardoza, 2003;Tsai et al, 2000).…”

Mental Health Help-Seeking Behaviors of Muslim Immigrants in the United States: Overcoming Social Stigma and Cultural Mistrust

“…Minorities in the U.S. have historically experienced racism, discrimination, and oppression to the extent that these experiences have negatively influenced mental health help-seeking (Chung & Bemak, 2012;Obasi & Leong, 2009;Shea & Yeh, 2008). Initially developed as a concept to describe the distrust Black Americans had towards White Americans, cultural mistrust encompasses an overall mistrust of White-dominated institutions such as the legal system, educational system, job settings, and government agencies (David, 2010).…”

Who is David and who is Goliath? The Eddie Long scandal and the black mega-church

“…Quantitative research in this area has also revealed blacks with high degrees of Christian Orthodoxy Mental Health, Religion & Culture 59 exhibit fewer mental-health problems than other ethnicities (Randolph-Seng, Nielsen, Bottoms, & Filipas, 2008). Other quantitative research has found blacks to be more likely to seek help from clergy than obtain professional psychological services (Allen et al, 2010;Ezemenari & Frederick, 2009;Kane, 2010;Lesniak, Rudman, Rector, & Elkin, 2006;Lewis-Coles & Constantine, 2006); forgiveness to be strongly related to the mental health of African American women (Faison, 2007); their perceived relationship with God (Hatcher, 2001); and spirituality to be strong indicators of mental health for African Americans (Ojelade, McCray, Ashby, & Meyers, 2011).…”