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Published Online: 15 December 2015

Mental Health Service Use Among Immigrants in the United States: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Objective:

Immigrants face stressors unique to the experience of migration that may exacerbate or cause mental health problems but access care at rates far below the general population, leaving them at risk of untreated mental health conditions. This review synthesizes current findings on mental health service utilization among immigrants to inform future research efforts addressing disparities in access to care.

Methods:

A systematic literature search of seven databases yielded 62 articles that met inclusion criteria: peer-reviewed reports of empirical studies based in the United States with an explicit focus on immigrant mental health service use. Each article was evaluated, and information was extracted by using a structured abstracting form.

Results:

Studies have shown that immigrants from Asia, Latin America, and Africa use mental health services at lower rates than nonimmigrants, despite an equal or greater need. Lower usage has been found to be more pronounced among men, the uninsured, and the undocumented. Structural barriers to service use reported included lack of insurance, high cost, and language barriers. Studies have shown that social support is particularly important for immigrants and that those who seek help for mental health concerns tend to turn first to family, friends, or religious leaders.

Conclusions:

Important areas for future research on disparities in mental health service use among immigrants include expanding research and analytic design to emphasize understudied groups and the heterogeneity of immigrant experiences over time, studying interventions that foster collaboration between formal and informal service sectors, and examining the role of social support in problem recognition and treatment initiation.

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Go to Psychiatric Services
Go to Psychiatric Services

Cover: Bowl, by Louis Comfort Tiffany, circa 1908. Favrile glass. Gift of Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, 1951 (51.121.13). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. Image copyright © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image source: Art Resource, New York City.

Psychiatric Services
Pages: 265 - 274
PubMed: 26695493

History

Received: 2 January 2015
Revision received: 8 May 2015
Accepted: 16 June 2015
Published online: 15 December 2015
Published in print: March 01, 2016

Authors

Details

Amelia Seraphia Derr, M.S.W., Ph.D.
Dr. Derr is with the Department of Anthropology, Sociology, and Social Work, Seattle University, Seattle, Washington (e-mail: [email protected]).

Competing Interests

The author reports no financial relationships with commercial interests.

Funding Information

National Institutes of Health10.13039/100000002: TL1 RR025016
National Institute of Mental Health10.13039/100000025: T32 MH20010
This project was supported by grant TL1 RR025016 from the National Center for Research Resources and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Additional support was from Prevention Research Grant T32 MH20010 from the National Institute of Mental Health and from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, the J. Scott Briar Award from the University of Washington School of Social Work, and the Warren G. Magnuson Scholarship from the Institute for Biomedical Research and Health Professions.

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