Qualitative Study of Depression Literacy Among Korean American Parents of Adolescents

Abstract

Lack of depression literacy is associated with low help-seeking behaviors for mental health care in adolescents. As parents generally determine adolescents' health care, ensuring parents can recognize depressive symptoms is crucial. The current study explored depression literacy among Korean American parents of adolescents ages 12 to 19 using a qualitative descriptive design. Semantic content analysis was performed using data from three focus group interviews conducted in 2015 with Korean American parents (10 mothers, four fathers) of adolescents. Participants lacked knowledge about the biological causes and medicinal treatment of depression. Most believed that depression cannot be fully treated, relapses occur easily, and medication is taken indefinitely. Gender influenced perceptions of symptoms. Parents often overlooked children's depressive symptoms until schools alerted them. Nursing interventions should educate parents about the biological causes of depression, strategies for addressing adolescents' symptoms, community-based professional resources, and success stories about depression treatment. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 56(1), 48-56.].

A Systematic Review of Parent and Caregiver Mental Health Literacy

“…Malaysian caregivers were found to have limited knowledge of mental illness and treatment, associated with religious and spiritual beliefs of unknown and supernatural causes of mental illness (Mohammad et al, 2012). Korean-American parents had limited knowledge and some misconceptions about the causes of depression and its treatment (Jeong, McCreary, & Hughes, 2017). The study also found that Korean fathers had less knowledge about depressive symptoms and treatment than mothers with their primary focus on earning and providing for the household (Jeong et al, 2017).…”

“…In contrast, parents in two other qualitative studies held negative attitudes (e.g. fear, mistrust, lack of faith) to mental health services that was based on observation of others' unsuccessful help-seeking experience (Jeong et al, 2017;Umpierre et al, 2015).…”

“…Parents of adolescents with mental health disorders were proactive in seeking knowledge and maximising support resources available to them (Honey et al, 2015). Korean-American parents perceived that parenting style and family issues were one of the main causes of depression and that changing parenting style could be effective in treating depression (Jeong et al, 2017). A sample of Australian parents believed that their behaviour could aid prevention of mental health disorders (Yap & Jorm, 2012).…”

“…Counselling was rated positively in two studies (Jorm & Wright, 2007;Jorm et al, 2007a), with 44.0% of Australian parents and caregivers identifying counselling on how to manage a mental health problem as their biggest perceived need for help (Lawrence et al, 2015). In contrast, counselling was perceived as mostly ineffective by Korean-American parents due to perceived lack of improvement and slow progress (Jeong et al, 2017).…”

Depression Literacy among First-Year University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study in Bangladesh

“…Depression literacy (D-Lit) is an essential requirement to combat the disorder as it addresses the identification of depressive symptoms, receiving treatment options as well as making critical decisions during emergencies (Jeong et al 2018;Arafat et al 2018a). Moreover, it plays a contributory role in the treatment of depression as it is a chronic disorder (Arafat et al 2018a,b;Arafat et al 2017).…”