Abstract
Culture impacts help-seeking preferences. We examined Vietnamese Americans’ help-seeking preferences for depressive symptoms, through a telephone survey (N = 1666). A vignette describing an age- and gender-matched individual with depression was presented, and respondents chose from a list of options and provided open-ended responses about their help-seeking preferences. Results showed that 78.3% would seek professional help, either from a family doctor, a mental health provider, or both; 54.4% preferred to seek help from a family doctor but not from a mental health provider. Most (82.1%) would prefer to talk to family or friends, 62.2% would prefer to look up information, and 50.1% would prefer to get spiritual help. Logistic regression analysis revealed that preferences for non-professional help-seeking options (such as talking to friends or family, looking up information, and getting spiritual help), health care access, and perceived poor health, were associated with increased odds of preferring professional help-seeking. This population-based study of Vietnamese Americans highlight promising channels to deliver education about depression and effective help-seeking resources, particularly the importance of family doctors and social networks. Furthermore, addressing barriers in access to care remains a critical component of promoting professional help-seeking.
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Acknowledgements
Data collection was supported by a grant from the National Cancer Institute (CA109091). Work on this article was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA007250). The authors also would like to acknowledge the support of the Asian American Research Center on Health (ARCH), the Jenkins-Bernen Endowment, the Vietnamese Community Health Promotion Project's Community Advisory Board, and the Vietnamese Reach for Health Coalition. The funding agencies had no involvement in the design and conduct of the study, the data analysis, interpretation of the data, or preparation and submission of the article.
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All study procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institution and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. All study procedures were approved by the University of California San Francisco Institutional Review Board, and all study participants provided informed consent.
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Kim-Mozeleski, J.E., Tsoh, J.Y., Gildengorin, G. et al. Preferences for Depression Help-Seeking Among Vietnamese American Adults. Community Ment Health J 54, 748–756 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-017-0199-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-017-0199-3