title: A conceptual paradigm for understanding culture's impact on mental health: the cultural influences on mental health (CIMH) model.
abstract: Understanding culture's impact on mental health and its treatment is extremely important, especially in light of recent reports highlighting the realities of health disparities and unequal treatment. This article provides a conceptual paradigm for understanding how culture influences six mental health domains, including (a) the prevalence of mental illness, (b) etiology of disease, (c) phenomenology of distress, (d) diagnostic and assessment issues, (e) coping styles and help-seeking pathways, and (f) treatment and intervention issues. Systematic interrelationships between each of these domains are highlighted and relevant literature is reviewed. Although no one model can adequately capture the complex facets of culture's influence on mental health, the Cultural Influences on Mental Health (CIMH) model serves as an important framework for understanding the complexities of these interrelationships. Implications for clinical research and practice are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Claremont McKenna College, 850 Columbia Avenue, Claremont, CA, 91711 United States. wei-chin.hwang@claremontmckenna.edu
authors.forename: Wei-Chin
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Hector F
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Myers
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Abe-Kim
authors.forename: Julia Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Ting
mesh_terms: D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000523:psychology*; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006303:Health Services, Indigenous; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D010348:Patient Care Team; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D012945:Social Values; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy