Use of Mental Health–Related Services Among Immigrant and US-Born Asian Americans: Results From the National Latino and Asian American Study

TLDR

The study examined mental health service use, satisfaction, and perceived helpfulness among Asian Americans, focusing on immigration-related factors. Data were drawn from the 2002‑2003 National Latino and Asian American Study, comprising 2,095 Asian Americans. Overall, only 8.6 % of Asian Americans sought mental health services, with higher use among US‑born and third‑generation individuals, and service use varied by nativity and generation, underscoring the role of immigration factors.

Abstract

We examined rates of mental health-related service use (i.e., any, general medical, and specialty mental health services) as well as subjective satisfaction with and perceived helpfulness of care in a national sample of Asian Americans, with a particular focus on immigration-related factors.Data were derived from the National Latino and Asian American Study (2002-2003).About 8.6% of the total sample (n=2095) sought any mental health-related services; 34.1% of individuals who had a probable diagnosis sought any services. Rates of mental health-related service use, subjective satisfaction, and perceived helpfulness varied by birthplace and by generation. US-born Asian Americans demonstrated higher rates of service use than did their immigrant counterparts. Third-generation or later individuals who had a probable diagnosis had high (62.6%) rates of service use in the previous 12 months.Asian Americans demonstrated lower rates of any type of mental health-related service use than did the general population, although there are important exceptions to this pattern according to nativity status and generation status. Our results underscore the importance of immigration-related factors in understanding service use among Asian Americans.