Willingness to use mental health counseling in diverse groups of Asian Americans.

Responding to the underutilization of mental health services in Asian American communities, we examined factors associated with their willingness to use mental health counseling. Applying Andersen's Behavioral Health Service Model, we focused on the role of mental health needs and prior use of mental health counseling in shaping the attitudes toward mental health counseling of diverse groups of Asian Americans. We conducted a secondary analysis of data from 2,609 Asian Americans aged 18 or older who participated in the Asian American Quality of Life (AAQoL) survey conducted in central Texas. Logistic regression models of willingness to use mental health counseling were tested with predisposing (age, gender, marital status, education, nativity, and English-speaking ability), mental health needs (mental distress and self-rated mental health) and enabling (prior use of mental health counseling) variables. About 67% of the overall sample indicated their willingness to use mental health counseling. Individuals who met the criteria for mental distress showed 17% lower odds of willingness to use mental health counseling. The enabling role of prior use of mental health counseling was supported; those who had used counseling were over three times more likely to be willing to use counseling in the future than their counterparts without such an experience. Given the inverse association between mental health needs and the willingness to use mental health counseling, further attention should be paid to improving Asian Americans' recognition of mental health symptoms and awareness of the benefit of mental health services. The enabling role of prior use of counseling also highlights the importance of increasing the exposure to mental health services for Asian Americans. In efforts to promote mental health literacy, reduce cultural stigma, and advocate for mental health service use, consideration of cultural and linguistic diversity within the Asian American population is imperative.

Mental health outcomes of multiracial individuals: A systematic review between the years 2016 and 2022.

BACKGROUND: Emerging evidence suggests that multiracial individuals are at high risk for mental health problems. Systematic and ongoing synthesis of literature is necessary to understand mental health among multiracial individuals. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review of scholarly articles published during the years 2016-2022. Studies must have focused explicitly on mental health outcomes of biracial/multiracial individuals using quantitative methods. A total of 22 articles met criteria for this review. RESULTS: Studies were mainly from the United States, with one study from the United Kingdom and one from the Netherlands. Sample sizes ranged from 57 to 393,681. Findings revealed a complicated picture between multiracial identity and mental health, which may be a function of how multiracial identity is defined and empirically examined. Among studies comparing multiracial individuals with monoracial groups, multiracial individuals tended to have worse mental health, with notable exceptions depending on the multiracial subgroup, the mental health outcome, and the reference group. Among studies that only examined multiracial individuals, discrimination and ethno-racial identity emerged as complex explanatory factors that can shape mental health, though each of these constructs can be explored more deeply across social milieu. LIMITATIONS: The review focused on studies explicitly examining multiracial mental health, published during a limited time frame. CONCLUSION: Multiracial individuals tended to have worse mental health outcomes compared to their monoracial counterparts, with variations depending on the outcomes, populations/subgroups, contexts, and reference groups. Racial discrimination and ethno-racial identity may shape mental health trajectories of multiracial people, calling for more research to inform targeted interventions.

Perceived Discrimination and Psychological Distress: A Survey of Filipinx Americans in Massachusetts during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an upsurge of discrimination against Asian American populations, and Filipinx Americans (FA) have reported high cases of perceived discrimination. Prior studies have shown a relationship between experiences of discrimination and poor mental health. The purpose of this study was to examine the association of perceived discrimination and psychological distress among FA living in Massachusetts from a survey collected during the COVID-19 pandemic (N = 133). Multiple regression analysis revealed that experiences of perceived discrimination were associated with psychological distress. Older participants were less likely to report psychological distress. Compared to men, womxn were more likely to report psychological distress. Our findings highlight the potential mental health consequences of perceived discrimination experienced by FA, which may have been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic.