title: Examining lifetime episodes of sadness, help seeking, and perceived treatment helpfulness among US Latino/as.
abstract: This study investigated episodes of sadness, help seeking for episodes of sadness, and perceived treatment helpfulness among Latino/as. Specifically, we examined whether gender, ethnicity, and other socio-cultural variables predicted episodes of sadness, help seeking, and treatment helpfulness. Data were taken from the National Latino Asian American Study which included service use questions for episodes of sadness. We stratified the data by service provider and used multiple logistic regressions as analytic strategy. Latinas had higher rates of episodes of sadness than Latinos, and everyday discrimination was positively associated with sadness. Acculturation was associated with more help seeking. Puerto Ricans had the highest rates of help seeking, and Mexican-Americans the lowest. Discrimination was the strongest predictor of treatment helpfulness from any professional as individuals with discriminatory experiences found services less helpful. Interventions need to address cultural factors but more focus needs to be placed on policies that seek to eliminate inequalities.
authors: Departments of Psychology and Women's Studies, University of Michigan Substance Abuse Research Center, University of Michigan, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. elmalb@umich.edu
authors: Elma I
authors: EI
authors: Lorenzo-Blanco
authors: Jorge
authors: J
authors: Delva
mesh_terms: D000069:Acculturation; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology; D003863:Depression / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000628:therapy; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology*; D010465:Perception; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States