title: The mental health status of ethnocultural minorities in Ontario and their mental health care.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mental disorders are a leading cause of disability and early mortality. The objective of this study was to describe and compare psychosocial indicators and mental health service use among ethnoculturally-diverse Ontarians.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a cross-sectional analysis of the Ontario Health Study pilot investigation. Residents were mailed an invitation to one of 3 assessment centres (urban, rural and northern sites) from March 2009 to July 2010. Participants had an interview with a nurse and completed a questionnaire on a touchscreen kiosk. The questionnaire included sociodemographic items, and scales assessing symptoms of depressive symptoms (CES-D) and anxiety (GAD-7), social support (Lubben Social Network Scale), stressful life events, and mental health service use.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eight thousand two hundred thirty-five residents participated, among whom 6652 (82.4 %) self-reported their ethnocultural background as White, 225 (2.8 %) as South Asian, 222 (2.8 %) East Asian, 214 (2.7 %) Southeast Asian, 197 (2.4 %) Black, and 28 (0.3 %) as Aboriginal. Based on their sociodemographic characteristics, participants from these ethnocultural minority groups were matched to White participants. Black participants reported significantly greater stressful life events than White participants (p = .04), particularly death (p < .05), divorce (p = .002) and financial difficulties (p < .001). East Asian participants reported significantly less social support than their White counterparts (p < .001), and this was not confounded by measurement variance. Mental health service use was significantly lower in all ethnocultural minorities except Aboriginals, when compared to White participants (p = .001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a high burden of psychosocial distress in several preponderant ethnocultural minorities in Ontario; many of whom are not accessing available mental health services.
authors.affiliation: School of Kinesiology and Health Science, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada. sgrace@yorku.ca.|Cardiac Rehabilitation and Prevention Program, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada. sgrace@yorku.ca.|Bethune College 368 York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON, Canada. sgrace@yorku.ca.
authors.forename: Sherry L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Grace
authors.affiliation: Cardiac Rehabilitation and Prevention Program, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada. tanyongyao@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Yongyao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada. cribbie@yorku.ca.
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Cribbie
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. nnguyen.han@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Han
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: School of Kinesiology and Health Science, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada. pritvo@yorku.ca.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ritvo
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada. jirvine@yorku.ca.
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Irvine
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology; D044466:Asian People / Q000523:psychology; D044383:Black People / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D008913:Minority Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009864:Ontario; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012944:Social Support; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology