Racial differences in informal help seeking for mental health problems
✍ Scribed by Lonnie R. Snowden
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1998
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 95 KB
- Volume
- 26
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0090-4392
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
The present study examined the hypothesis of greater African American informal help seeking for mental health problems in a comparison of African Americans and Whites. Controlling for sociodemographic factors, symptom distress, and diagnosis, African Americans were less likely than Whites to report turning for assistance to a friend, family member, or religious figure. Nor did African Americans use informal help as a substitute for professional care; they turned to informal helpers in conjunction with formal helpers, and demonstrated complementarity to a greater extent than Whites. Supportive ties found among African Americans may be advantageous for many purposes, but provide no benefit for the face-to-face discussion of emotional problems.