Perceived Discrimination and African American Mental Health Service Utilization

Abstract

Introduction: Large disparities in black-white mental health service utilization remain despite access to utilization increasing. Due to the distress caused by discrimination we hypothesized that, experiencing events of perceived discrimination will lead to an increase in utilization. Rates of utilization may be skewed because many studies do not include informal supports such as religious care. Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of the data collected in the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) series, the Milwaukee samples. Total mental health service utilization was measured by formal utilization (e.g., visiting a psychiatrist, a general practitioner, or a counselor) as well as informal supports which was only measured in terms of religious care. Discrimination was measured by daily, lifetime, and job discrimination. Results: Almost 30% of participants reported utilizing some form of service. Discrimination also leads to an increase in likelihood of utilization across all mental health services. Discussion: Discrimination is a strong predictor of utilization. Discrimination causes distress that leads individuals to want to receive treatment beyond factors associated with pathology.

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Ogaldez