Attitudes toward seeking therapy among Puerto Rican and Cuban American young adults and their parents

    Authors

    A. P. Rojas-Vilches; C. Negy;A. Reig-Ferrer

    Comments

    Authors: contact us about adding a copy of your work at STARS@ucf.edu

    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Int. J. Clin. Health Psychol.

    Keywords

    Therapy; Social Stigma; Mental Illness; Puerto Ricans and Cuban; Americans; Descriptive study; NATIONAL-COMORBIDITY-SURVEY; COLLEGE-STUDENTS ATTITUDES; R; PSYCHIATRIC-DISORDERS; MENTAL-HEALTH-SERVICES; UNITED-STATES; ACCULTURATIVE STRESS; POSTTRAUMATIC-STRESS; SOCIOECONOMIC-STATUS; PSYCHOLOGICAL HELP; ETHNIC DISPARITIES; Psychology, Clinical

    Abstract

    Puerto Rican and Cuban American young adults and one of their parents (mother or father) completed the Beliefs toward Mental Illness Scale, the Stigma Scale for Receiving Psychological Help, the Attitudes toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale-Short Form, and additional measures. Among parents, but not young adults, the more they believed there is social stigma attached to those with mental illnesses and that mental illnesses are untreatable, the less likely they would seek therapy for emotional problems. The young adults were significantly less likely than their parents to perceive those with mental illnesses as dangerous, lacking social skills or being stigmatized, and were more open to seeking therapy. For young adults and parents, increases in acculturation toward the United States culture were significantly associated with less pejorative attitudes toward mental illness and therapy. Other findings and recommendations for therapists treating Puerto Rican and Cuban American clients are provided.

    Journal Title

    International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology

    Volume

    11

    Issue/Number

    2

    Publication Date

    1-1-2011

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    313

    Last Page

    341

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000290059600007

    ISSN

    1697-2600

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