Cultural and contextual influences in mental health help seeking: a focus on ethnic minority youth

Abstract

In this article, a mental health help-seeking model is offered as a framework for understanding cultural and contextual factors that affect ethnic minority adolescents' pathways into mental health services. The effects of culture and context are profound across the entire help-seeking pathway, from problem identification to choice of treatment providers. The authors argue that an understanding of these help-seeking pathways provides insights into ethnic group differences in mental health care utilization and that further research in this area is needed.