title: The Role of Stigma in Parental Help-Seeking for Perceived Child Behavior Problems in Urban, Low-Income African American Parents.
abstract: Significant numbers of children have diagnosable mental health problems, but only a small proportion of them receive appropriate services. Stigma has been associated with help-seeking for adult mental health problems and for Caucasian parents. The current study aims to understand factors, including stigma, associated with African American parents' help-seeking behavior related to perceived child behavior problems. Participants were a community sample of African American parents and/or legal guardians of children ages 3-8 years recruited from an urban primary care setting (N = 101). Variables included child behavior, stigma (self, friends/family, and public), object of stigma (parent or child), obstacles for engagement, intention to attend parenting classes, and demographics. Self-stigma was the strongest predictor of help-seeking among African American parents. The impact of self-stigma on parents' ratings of the likelihood of attending parenting classes increased when parents considered a situation in which their child's behavior was concerning to them. Findings support the need to consider parent stigma in the design of care models to ensure that children receive needed preventative and treatment services for behavioral/mental health problems in African American families.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Psychology and Neuropsychology, Nationwide Children's Hospital, 700 Children's Drive, Columbus, OH, 43205, USA. robert.dempster@nationwidechildrens.org.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dempster
authors.affiliation: Division of General Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, University of Louisville School of Medicine, 571 S. Floyd Street, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA. deborah.davis@louisville.edu.
authors.forename: Deborah Winders
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: Division of General Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, University of Louisville School of Medicine, 571 S. Floyd Street, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Faye Jones
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Pediatrics, Cleveland Clinic, Wooster, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Keating
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Beth
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wildman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011203:Poverty / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011287:Prejudice / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013240:Stereotyping; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: African American; Child behavior; Early childhood; Parent help-seeking; Parenting