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Quitting Mental Health Services among Racial and Ethnic Groups of Americans with Depression

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Abstract

Research on racial/ethnic differences in quitting mental health services has yet to examine the multiple forms of services offered and reasons why racial/ethnic groups quit. Data from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys (CPES) examined whether race/ethnicity was related to quitting nine types of mental health services within a multivariate framework, and whether any racial/ethnic differences emerged among 16 assessed reasons for quitting mental health services (N = 437). Odds of quitting mental health services provided by social workers, non-medical health professionals, counselors, psychiatrists, and psychologists varied significantly by race/ethnicity. The most common reasons for quitting services included individuals wanting to handle the problem on their own, getting better, or not needing help anymore. The increased likelihood of quitting services represents an underexplored area for mental health service disparities and calls for improved efforts to retain racial and ethnic minorities in the mental health system.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Orion Mowbray, University of Georgia School of Social Work, 279 Williams St, Athens, GA, 30605, USA

    Orion Mowbray PhD, Rosalyn Denise Campbell PhD, Irang Kim MSW & Jessica A. Scott MSW

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  1. Orion Mowbray PhD
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  2. Rosalyn Denise Campbell PhD
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  3. Irang Kim MSW
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  4. Jessica A. Scott MSW
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Correspondence to Orion Mowbray PhD.

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Ethical Approval

The research presented involves the use of secondary data, and was approved by the University Internal Review Board. Upon review of data documentation and survey methodology reported from the original Principal Investigators, we believe all procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Mowbray, O., Campbell, R.D., Kim, I. et al. Quitting Mental Health Services among Racial and Ethnic Groups of Americans with Depression. J Behav Health Serv Res 45, 269–279 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-017-9560-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-017-9560-0

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