Author: Beatriz RodriguezPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Acculturation
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Hispanic families may experience numerous barriers to physical and mental health care and tend to underutilize mental health services (Haack et al., 2018; Umpierre et al., 2015). English proficiency and cultural factors related to perceptions of mental health may impact the likelihood of Hispanic families seeking professional help for child mental health concerns (Alvarado & Modesto-Lowe, 2017; Eiraldi et al., 2006). The present study examined parental attitudes towards seeking professional help for child mental health concerns as well as possible differences in help-seeking for child mental (i.e., ADHD and depression) and physical health (i.e., stomach flu) concerns. Fifty-one Hispanic immigrant parents (40 mothers, 11 fathers; Mage = 35.62 years, SD= 8.19) completed measures to assess parental attitudes toward psychological help-seeking, likelihood to seek help for child physical and mental health concerns from formal and informal sources, and their level of familyism, religiosity, and acculturation. Participants indicated a higher likelihood to seek help from informal sources than from formal sources for both child mental and physical health conditions. Additionally, participants were more likely to seek help for a child's physical health condition than for mental health concerns. These results speak of the need to examine the process of help-seeking for Hispanic parents regarding mental health concerns in their children as well as the influence of other factors in their help-seeking process, including acculturation, familyism, and religiosity. Understanding these relationships can guide clinicians in identifying and problem-solving treatment barriers.
