title: Counseling utilization by ethnic minority college students.
abstract: Although multicultural awareness in counseling has risen substantially in the last decade, little research has examined counseling utilization and outcomes for ethnic minorities on university campuses. A sample of 1,166 African American, Asian American, Caucasian, and Latino help-seeking university students from over 40 universities nationwide filled out the Outcome Questionnaire 45 (OQ45) at the first and last therapy sessions. Caucasian students attended significantly more sessions than all other groups. Greatest distress was found at intake in Asian American students, followed by Latino, African American, and Caucasian students. All groups appeared to benefit from therapy, as noted by a decrease in symptomatology, but none of the groups met the criteria for clinically significant change for the OQ45. Implications for therapists working with minority clients are discussed.
authors.affiliation: South Texas Veterans Health Care System, San Antonio, TX 78229-4404, USA. lisa.kearney3@med.va.gov
authors.forename: Lisa K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Kearney
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Draper
authors.forename: Augustine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barón
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001213:Asian / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001364:Awareness; D044383:Black People / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003376:Counseling / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008913:Minority Groups / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D014481:United States; D014600:Utilization Review / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001741:Black or African American