title: Mental health service utilization for psychiatric disorders among Latinos living in the United States: the role of ethnic subgroup, ethnic identity, and language/social preferences.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine aspects of Latino experience in the US as predicting service utilization for mood, anxiety, and substance disorders.
  
  
  METHODS
  Latino participants 18 and older in the NESARC (N = 6,359), a US national face to face survey. Outcomes were lifetime service utilization for DSM-IV lifetime mood/anxiety or substance disorders, diagnosed via structured interview (AUDADIS-IV). Main predictors were ethnic subgroup, ethnic identity, linguistic/social preferences, nativity/years in the US, and age at immigration.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Higher levels of Latino ethnic identity and Spanish language/Latino social preferences predicted lower service utilization for mood disorders [ethnic identity OR = 0.52, language/social OR = 0.44] and anxiety disorders [ethnic identity OR = 0.67, language/social OR = 0.47], controlling for ethnic subgroup, disorder severity, time spent in the US, and economic and practical barriers Service utilization for alcohol/drug disorders was low across all Latino subgroups, without variation by examined predictors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Ethnic/cultural factors are strong determinants of service utilization for mood/anxiety, but not substance use disorders among Latinos in the US strategies to increase service utilization among Latinos with psychiatric disorders should be disorder specific, and recognize the role of ethnicity and identity as important components of a help-seeking model.
authors.affiliation: New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive #123, New York, NY 10032, USA.
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Keyes
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Hatzenbuehler
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Blanco
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Bates
authors.forename: Deborah S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Hasin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000208:ethnology*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D057240:Patient Preference / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D012933:Social Identification; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult