Minority Mental Health: Difference in Use of Mental Health Resources

Minority Mental Health: Differences in Use of Mental Health Resources

Hannah Branit, Daniel Storage PhD, Dajah Brooks

Psychology Department, University of Denver

Asians Versus Non-Asians

What Predicts Comfort Reaching Out?

Overall Access of Mental Health Resources

Background

Asian American college students are 1.6 times more likely to consider death by suicide, as compared to their white counterparts. (Kisch, Leino & Silverman, 2005)

Children fear confiding in their parents because they feel that their problems are inferior to immigrant struggles. (Chua, 2009)

We found no significant differences between Asian students and Non-Asian students in comfort reaching out, comfort using, reaching out, and use of mental health resources.

Research Question: What factors influence the use of mental health resources by minorities when on predominantly White university campuses?

The only significant predictor of comfort reaching out is the EIBI-3. As suggested by the previous slide, language exposure seems to play a role in comfort reaching out to mental health resources.

This has implications for the use of mySSP, a telemental health app used by the University of Denver.

Research Significance

DU could improve how comfortable students, in general, would feel reaching out for mental health help. The average score across all participants was 3.6 out of 5.

• Currently, literature on mental health resource usage by minorities is limited.

Limitations

Asian participants reported significantly less cultural identification than Non-Asian participants, as measured by the EIBI.

• This study seeks to extend existing literature by proposing different factors that contribute to the low rates of mental health resource usage.

• Small sample of Asian DU students.
• English literacy exclusion criteria further limited Asian participation.
• COVID-19 impacted recruitment and timeline of recruitment.
• Asian participants identified less with their culture than Non-Asian participants
• This may be due to less culture opportunities at DU

• At DU specifically, in 2019 Fall, 23% of incoming freshmen self-identified as students of color, lowest in 4 years.

Methodology

Qualitative Data: In Their Own Words

Does Language Play A Role?

One aspect of diversity that was not covered in this study is the treatment of LGBTQ+ students on the University of Denver campus. As this study's focus was on relationship between ethnicity and mental health resource usage, gender identity and sexual orientation were not analyzed.

Asian

Non-Asian

"There is a lack of representation on campus. The ethnic minorities can often be found in the lower end jobs at the University or within the athletic program."

The survey, built through Qualtrics, included:

• Adapted Youth Quality of Life Measure, research edition (YQL).
• Big 5 Extroversion items.
• Ethnocultural Identity Behavioral Index (EIBI)
• 1-item questions: comfort/use of university resources.
• Free response questions: family relationships and identity on campus

"At [...] DU, I find that my race/ethnicity is constantly questioned--even if in a nonverbal manner. I find that I am most happy when I am in classes where I don't have to explain the plight of the brown person."

References

"I have never really felt as if I am the minority in my group of friends or peers."

"You feel misunderstood. You feel like you can't talk about certain things. You feel alone when you're surrounded by people. "

Demographics

"I think that as our culture is progressing, talking about mental health is becoming more normal and widely accepted."

"My mom is an immigrant and my dad is first gen[eration], they struggled in their childhood with poverty and therefor[e] didn’t have time to deeply deal with mental health."

Cokley, K., McClain, S., Enciso, A., & Martinez, M. (2013). An examination of the impact of minority status stress and impostor feelings on the mental health of diverse ethnic minority college students. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 41(2), 82-95. Retrieved from https://du.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.du.idm.oclc.org/docview/1345950355?accountid=14608

Chua, Winston. Mental Illness: The Asian American Experience (2009): ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.

Leong, F.T., Leach, M. M., Yeh, C., & Chou, E. (2007). Suicide among Asian Americans: What do we know? What do we need to know? Death Studies, 31(5), 417-434

Patrick, D. L., Edwards, T. C. and Topolski, T. D. (2002). Adolescent quality of life, part II: Initial validation of a new instrument. Journal of Adolescence 25, 287–300.

Thapa, P., Sung, Y., Klingbeil, D., Lee, C. Y., & Klimes-Dougan, B. (2015). Attitudes and perceptions of suicide and suicide prevention messages for Asian Americans. Behavioral Sciences, 5(4), 547-564

University of Denver. (n.d.). Ftfy Cohort Report. Retrieved from du.edu/ir/media/documents/ftfy_cohort_report.pdf

Wong, Y. J., Koo, K, Tran, K. K., Ciu, Y. C., & Mok, Y. (2011). Asian American college students’ suicide ideation: A mixed-methods study. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 58(2), 197

Yamada, Ann-Marie & Marsella, Anthony & Yamada, Stan. (1998). The Development of the Ethnocultural Identity Behavioral Index: Psychometric Properties and Validation with Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.. Asian American and Pacific Islander journal of health. 6. 35-45.

N = 99

M(age) = 20.2

SD(age) = 3.0

14 Asian/Pacific Islander participants

85 Non-Asian participants

EIBI-3 measures Language Exposure in relation to cultural identification, or acculturation.

"I feel that I’ve started to cling onto my culture even more since coming to DU. All the places I’ve been before DU were way more diverse, so it was like a culture shock coming to DU. That’s why I became active in different organizations that focus on culture. "

"I think being white and growing up in the Bible Belt I definitely had a different perspective than when I moved to Denver. I feel like I’m a lot more open about my sexuality thoughts and feelings, whereas back home I would assume if I said anything everyone would judge me and know my business."

Acknowledgments

EIBI-3 is significantly correlated with both comfort reaching out, and comfort using mental health resources.

I would like to thank Dr. Storage, Dajah Brooks, the Undergraduate Research Center, student organizations at the University of Denver, Dr. DePrince and Dr. Reichmann-Decker.

Connect with me on Twitter: @HBranit