American Journal of Public Health
Volume 97, Issue 1, 2007, Pages 60-67

Use of mental health services and subjective satisfaction with treatment among Black Caribbean immigrants: Results from the National Survey of American Life (Article)

Jackson J.S. , Neighbors H.W. , Torres M. , Martin L.A. , Williams D.R. , Baser R. , Lowe J.*
  • a School of Public Health, Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
  • b School of Public Health, Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
  • c Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
  • d School of Public Health, Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
  • e School of Public Health, Department of Society, Human Development and Health, Howard University, Cambridge, MA, United States
  • f Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
  • g Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248, United States

Abstract

Objectives. We examined the use rates and correlates of formal psychiatric services among the US-born and immigrant Caribbean Black population. Methods. We compared overall mental health service use in samples of Caribbean Blacks and African Americans and examined the within-sample ethnic variation among Caribbean Blacks, including for ethnic origin (Spanish Caribbean, Haiti, and English Caribbean), nativity status (those born in or outside the United States), number of years spent living in the United States, age at the time of immigration, and generational status. Results. African Americans and Caribbean Blacks used formal mental health care services at relatively low rates. Among Caribbean Blacks, generational status and nativity showed the greatest effects on rates of reported use, satisfaction, and perceived helpfulness. Of those study participants who met the criteria for disorders as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, about one third used formal mental health care services. The US-born subjects were more likely to receive care than were first-generation immigrants. Conclusions. Our study underscores the importance of ethnicity, immigration, and migration-related factors, within racial categorization, as it pertains to the use of mental health services in the United States. Our findings suggest that timing of migration and generational status of Caribbean Black immigrants and ancestry groups contribute to important differences in rates and sources of use, relative satisfaction, and perception of helpfulness, with regard to formal mental health services.

Author Keywords

[No Keywords available]

Index Keywords

perception immigrant cooperation mental health service Health Care Surveys human immigration middle aged Aged alcoholism Central America Helping Behavior drug dependence dysthymia social phobia African American panic Mental Health Services Mental Disorders diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders Residence Characteristics mental health care Haiti United States Humans geography Adolescent male Spain female patient satisfaction Caribbean Region Article major clinical study adult drug abuse posttraumatic stress disorder Age Factors generalized anxiety disorder agoraphobia Emigration and Immigration Patient Acceptance of Health Care ethnicity major depression African Americans health survey
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-33846072598&doi=10.2105%2fAJPH.2006.088500&partnerID=40&md5=b59c8293b0b43fae4734c1b9db6fa55f
DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2006.088500
ISSN: 00900036
Cited by: 89
Original Language: English