Minority Mental Health: Differences in Use of Mental Health Resources
Asian American students’ expression of mental health may be inhibited by familial influence, cultural norms, and stigma, which greatly impact the experience these students have while at university. We expect this effect may be stronger in predominantly White institutions like DU where Asian Americans have minority status and are less likely to have support from peers with similar cultural backgrounds. We investigated the extent to which Asian Americans, compared to their peers, are discouraged from disclosing mental health concerns and how this tendency relates to several factors such as students’ relationships with their parents and acculturation. We predicted that Asian American students will report having less open relationships with their parents and a tendency to conceal mental health concerns. The study was made available to DU students through the SONA research pool and to alliance and affinity organizations. Preliminary findings reflect the hypothesis that Asian American students tend to conceal mental health concerns; while a third of Caucasian identifying participants responded they both reached out to and used mental health resources, no Asian identifying students did.
