Depressive Symptoms and Mental Health Treatment in an Ethnoracially Diverse College Student Sample
- 1 November 2011
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis Ltd in Journal of American College Health
- Vol. 59 (8), 715-720
- https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2010.529625
Abstract
Objectives: To study (a) the prevalence of depressive symptoms and (b) the utilization of mental health treatment in an ethnoracially diverse sample consisting primarily of Asian Americans, European Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. Participants: Five hundred eighty-nine college students. Method: A questionnaire packet that included the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) was administered to students in introductory psychology courses. Results: (a) There were no differences among ethnoracial groups in levels of depressive symptoms as measured by the CES-D; (b) 71% of participants with high levels of depressive symptoms had not received any mental health treatment in the previous 12 months; and (c) European Americans were 3.7 times more likely to have received mental health treatment in the previous 12 months than other students. Conclusion: Outreach efforts designed to improve utilization of mental health treatment services by depressed college students, especially by members of ethnoracial minority groups, should be increased.Keywords
This publication has 30 references indexed in Scilit:
- Birth cohort increases in psychopathology among young Americans, 1938–2007: A cross-temporal meta-analysis of the MMPIClinical Psychology Review, 2010
- Help-Seeking Experiences and Attitudes among African American, Asian American, and European American College StudentsInternational Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, 2009
- Mental Health of College Students and Their Non–College-Attending PeersArchives of General Psychiatry, 2008
- Mental Health Among College Students: Do Those Who Need Services Know About and Use Them?Journal of American College Health, 2008
- Mental Health Services: Use and Disparity Among Diverse College StudentsJournal of American College Health, 2008
- Risk and protective factors associated with trajectories of depressed mood from adolescence to early adulthood.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 2008
- Dropouts versus completers among chronically depressed outpatientsJournal of Affective Disorders, 2007
- Ethnic variation in depressive symptoms in a community sample in Hawaii.Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 2007
- Age, gender, race, socioeconomic status, and birth cohort difference on the children's depression inventory: A meta-analysis.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 2002
- Cross-Cultural Study of Depressive Symptoms in HawaiiInternational Journal of Social Psychiatry, 1973