Symposia
Culture / Ethnicity / Race
Stephanie H. Yu, M.A.
University of California, Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES, California
Blanche Wright, M.A.
Doctoral Candidate
University of California Los Angeles
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Tamar Kodish, M.A.
Clinical Psychology PhD Student
University of California Los Angeles
Santa Monica, CA
Yazmin Lazaro, PhD
PhD Student
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Dylan Aguirre, PhD
Post-baccalaureate
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Anna S. Lau, Ph.D.
Professor
UCLA
Los Angeles, California
Treatment stigma is defined as the negative attitudes and discrimination believed to be associated with receiving mental healthcare (Clement et al., 2012). Studies indicate that stigma may be a barrier to help-seeking for Asian-American and Latinx youth with mental health need (Wang et al., 2020). Yet, drivers of treatment stigma and specific sources of mental health help sought by minoritized youth are not well characterized (Guo et al., 2015).
The current study had two aims: (1) Identify student characteristics associated with treatment stigma, and (2) Examine associations between treatment stigma and mental health need and help-seeking behaviors for minoritized youth. Our sample included 2,103 Asian-American (N=1,321) and Latinx youth (N=782), who were in grades 4 – 12 at Title I schools. 52.78% of youth identified as male and 47.22% as female. Aim 1 employed multilevel regression analyses accounting for nesting within schools. For Aim 2, we conducted multilevel multinomial logistic regressions within racial/ethnic groups to examine whether treatment stigma moderated the relationship between internalizing problems and past-year mental health help-seeking with: (a) peers only, (b) adults inclusive of peers (but not professionals), and (c) professional support.
Aim 1 results revealed that older youth, youth born in the U.S., and Asian-American compared to Latinx youth reported higher treatment stigma. Aim 2 results differed by racial/ethnic group. For Asian-American youth, a significant two-way interaction (B = -0.12, SE = 0.05, 95% CI [-0.21, -0.02], p = .013) indicated that internalizing problems were negatively associated with informal adult help-seeking at high levels of stigma (B = -0.03, SE = 0.01, 95% CI [-0.04, -0.01], p = .005), but there was no association at average and low levels of stigma. For Latinx youth, a significant two-way interaction (B = -0.18, SE = 0.07, 95% CI [-0.33, -0.04], p = .015) indicated that internalizing problems were positively associated with peer help-seeking when stigma is low, but negatively associated when stigma is high. A significant two-way interaction (B = -0.15, SE = 0.06, 95% CI [-0.28, -0.02], p = .023) also indicated that internalizing problems were positively related to professional help-seeking at low (B = 0.02, SE = 0.01, 95% CI [0.01, 0.04], p = .005) and mean levels of stigma (B = 0.02, SE = 0.01, 95% CI [0.004, 0.03], p = .010), but not related at high levels of stigma. Tailored mental health outreach is needed to reduce stigma and encourage help-seeking for minoritized youth with internalizing problems.