Am
J Psychiatry 1990 Oct;147(10):1333-40
Socioeconomic status, ethnicity, psychological distress, and readiness
to utilize a mental health facility.
Briones DF, Heller PL, Chalfant HP, Roberts AE, Aguirre-Hauchbaum SF, Farr
WF Jr.
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Department of Psychiatry,
El Paso 79905.
The effects of minority status versus ethnic culture on Mexican-Americans'
underutilization of mental health services were reassessed through development
and testing of an analytic path model that proposes a sequence of factors,
including Mexican-American ethnicity, socioeconomic status, degree of
social and institutional support, and depression, which culminate in a
person's decision to utilize mental health facilities. The model also
predicts that life stress will affect utilization through its influence
on depression. Data from 783 subjects generally supported the model's
predictions. A multifactorial approach to the causes of mental health
problems and utilization behavior in the Mexican-American population is
suggested.
PMID: 2400002 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
