title: Disseminating treatment for anxiety disorders step 2: peer recommendations to seek help.
abstract: Despite the high prevalence of and significant psychological burden caused by anxiety disorders, as few as 25% of individuals with these disorders seek treatment, and treatment seeking by African-Americans is particularly uncommon. This purpose of the current study was to gather information regarding the public's recommendations regarding help-seeking for several anxiety disorders and to compare Caucasian and African-American participants on these variables. A community sample of 577 US adults completed a telephone survey that included vignettes portraying individuals with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social phobia/social anxiety disorder (SP/SAD), panic disorder (PD), and for comparison, depression. The sample was ½ Caucasian and ½ African American. Respondents were significantly less likely to recommend help-seeking for SP/SAD and GAD (78.8% and 84.3%, respectively) than for depression (90.9%). In contrast, recommendations to seek help for panic disorder were common (93.6%) and similar to rates found for depression. The most common recommendations were to seek help from a primary care physician (PCP). African Americans were more likely to recommend help-seeking for GAD than Caucasians. Findings suggested that respondents believed individuals with anxiety disorders should seek treatment. Given that respondents often recommended consulting a PCP, we recommend educating PCPs about anxiety disorders and empirically-supported interventions.
authors.affiliation: Binghamton University, Department of Psychology, Clearview Hall, 4400 Vestal Parkway East, Vestal, NY 13902, USA; Temple University, Department of Psychology, Weiss Hall, 1701 North 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA; University of Arizona College of Medicine, Department of Family & Community Medicine, 1642 East Helen Street, Tuscon, AZ 85719, USA. Electronic address: jschube1@binghamton.edu.
authors.forename: Jessica R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Schubert
authors.affiliation: Binghamton University, Department of Psychology, Clearview Hall, 4400 Vestal Parkway East, Vestal, NY 13902, USA. Electronic address: mcoles@binghamton.edu.
authors.forename: Meredith E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Coles
authors.affiliation: Temple University, Department of Psychology, Weiss Hall, 1701 North 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA. Electronic address: Heimberg@temple.edu.
authors.forename: Richard G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Heimberg
authors.affiliation: University of Arizona College of Medicine, Department of Family & Community Medicine, 1642 East Helen Street, Tuscon, AZ 85719, USA. Electronic address: bdweiss@arizona.edu.
authors.forename: Barry D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Weiss
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000208:ethnology / Q000628:therapy*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000208:ethnology / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000208:ethnology / Q000628:therapy; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology*; D010379:Peer Group; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Anxiety disorders; Dissemination; Mental health literacy; Race; Treatment; Treatment-seeking