Stressors and Barriers to Using Mental Health Services Among Diverse Groups of First-Generation Immigrants to the United States

• Published in: Community mental health journal Vol. 48; no. 1; pp. 98 - 106
• Main Authors: Saechao, Fay, Sharrock, Sally, Reicherter, Daryn, Livingston, James D., Aylward, Alexandra, Whisnant, Jill, Koopman, Cheryl, Kohli, Sarita
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.02.2012; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Acculturation; Adaptation, Psychological; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Asian Americans; California; Cambodia; Childrearing Practices; Community and Environmental Psychology; Constraints; Continental Population Groups; Cultural Diversity; Emigrants and Immigrants - psychology; Emigration and Immigration; Enculturation; Female; Focus Groups; Generations; Health Care Costs; Health services; Health Services Accessibility; Healthcare Disparities; Humans; Immigrants; Immigration policy; Iraq; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental disorders; Mental health care; Mental Health Services; Mental Health Services - utilization; Middle Aged; Migration; Noncitizens; Original Paper; Parenting; Patient Acceptance of Health Care - ethnology; Post traumatic stress disorder; Psychiatry; Refugees; Stigma; Stress; Stress, Psychological - ethnology; Torture; Trauma; Vietnam; Young Adult; California; Mental health services; Immigrant; Barriers; Stress
• ISSN: 0010-3853; 1573-2789
• DOI: 10.1007/s10597-011-9419-4

This study examined stressors and barriers to using mental health services among first-generation immigrants in San Jose, California. Focus groups for 30 immigrants from Cambodia, Eastern Europe, Iran, Iraq, Africa, and Vietnam were audio-recorded, translated and transcribed. Two researchers coded the data and identified themes pertaining to mental health stressors and barriers. Six primary stressors were identified: economic, discrimination, acculturation due to language differences, enculturation, parenting differences, and finding suitable employment. Primary barriers included: stigma, lack of a perceived norm in country of origin for using mental health services, competing cultural practices, lack of information, language barriers, and cost. A conceptual model is presented that may be used to inform the design and implementation of mental health services for this population.