Young, black, and male in foster care: relationship of negative social contextual experiences to factors relevant to mental health service delivery.
Among a small, cross-sectional sample of young Black males transitioning from foster care (n=74), this study explored the relationship of their negative social contextual experiences to two factors relevant to the delivery of mental health services to them: cultural mistrust of mental health professionals and attitudes toward seeking professional help. Three domains of young Black male's negative social contextual experiences were measured: proximal negative experiences, distal negative experiences, and negative imagery experiences. Results of multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) controlling for custody status, counselling status and history, and psychiatric history showed that young Black males reporting a high frequency of negative social contextual experiences reported significantly greater cultural mistrust of mental health professionals and significantly less positive attitudes toward seeking professional help for mental health problems than young Black males reporting a low frequency of negative social contextual experiences. Implications and future research directions are discussed.
Scott
Lionel D
LD
Washington University in St. Louis, Center for Mental Health Services Research, Campus Box 1093, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA. iscottjr@gsu.edu
Davis
Larry E
LE
D000293:Adolescent; D000339:Affect; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D044383:Black People / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003469:Culture; D005581:Foster Home Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008923:Missouri / Q000453:epidemiology; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012931:Social Environment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D035502:Trust; D001741:Black or African American