STIGMA AS A BARRIER TO MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT AMONG RACIALLY AND ETHNICALLY DIVERSE FAMILIES

Abstract

Abstract The current study investigated the association between barriers to mental health treatment and treatment attendance and whether there is a significant relationship between stigma and financial related barriers and the number of treatment sessions attended by participants. It further examined whether the diagnosis of an internalizing or externalizing disorder is a possible factor in the decline of treatment attendance. This study also explores race as a moderator for the barriers to treatment and the treatment session attendance. The participants were 205 adolescents and their primary caregivers who resided in New York City. These families were identified as experiencing significant internalizing or externalizing symptoms and were linked with treatment providers operating out of community-based behavioral health clinics around New York City. Family treatment attendance was tracked for one year and both adolescents and their primary caregivers participated in quarterly, home-based interviews with research staff. Financial and stigma related barriers were assessed via the Caregiver using Barriers to Participation Treatment scale. The results indicated that none of the predictors in the model were significantly associated with the treatment session attendance. These results suggest that stigma and financial barriers to mental health treatment may not be as significant a factor in treatment attendance declining as other variables. In addition to stigma and financial barriers there are other factors that relate to clients not attending mental health treatment.