Young African American Males’ Readiness To Seek Help
Principal Investigator: Lionel D. Scott Jr., Ph.D.
Funder: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH - 5R03 MH067124-02)Timeframe: Funded 01/03-04/05.
Affiliation: Center for Mental Health Services Research (CMHSR)
Project Staff: Curtis McMillen, PhD, Investigator
Lonnie Snowden, PhD, Consultant
Edward Spitznagel, PhD, Statistician
Participating Organizations: Missouri Division of Family Services-Foster Care
Project Contact: Lionel Scott, PhD, (314) 935-7970
E-mail: Lscott@wustl.eduProject Update as of 07/08/2008:
Stage: Data collection completed: (Baseline Sample: N = 74; Follow-up Interview Sample: N = 55: Semi-structured Interview Sample: N = 12).Description: Both cursory and in-depth reviews of the social and behavioral science literature show that studies of the help-seeking behaviors of African American males are miniscule in comparison to analyses of their poor-to-marginal health and social status in the United States. Yet, the consistent underutilization of health and mental health services has been implicated in their higher rates of morbidity, mortality, and life-threatening behaviors. This study, the Male African American Help-Seeking Study (MAAHS), focused on a vulnerable subpopulation of African American males: those who are transitioning out of the foster care system. MAAHS built on an NIMH-funded project (1RO1MH061404-01A1) that examined the mental health and service use of older adolescents leaving the foster care system.
MAAHS examined correlates of African American males' readiness to seek mental health services in the future for personal, emotional, behavioral, or mental health problems. Specific correlates assessed were stigma beliefs (e.g., beliefs about the devaluing and discrimination of people with serious mental health problems), cultural mistrust of mental health professionals (e.g., beliefs about whether mental health professionals can be trusted regardless of what color they are), satisfaction with past or current services received from the Missouri Department of Family Services (e.g., extent to which sense of esteem, power, and integrity have been enhanced by services received), satisfaction with current or past counseling services (e.g., counselor qualities), experiences in public places (e.g., projected negative imagery toward Black males generally), and masculine norms (e.g., restriction in the expression of emotions).
Data on 70-90 African American males was collected. Participants completed a baseline and follow-up interview. The baseline interview focused on correlates of help-seeking readiness. The follow-up interview (3-6 months later) focused on participant's voluntary or involuntary use of mental health services during the interim and their readiness to use mental health services in the future. Last, through a semi-structured interview with 10-20 participants, MAAHS obtained more indepth information about African American males current and past mental health service utilization histories, their general experiences as foster care recipients and Black males, and those factors that may foster and/or inhibit their use of mental health services.
This study provides an opportunity for the voices of African American males leaving foster care to inform services that are rendered to their future counterparts in the foster care system and the adult systems of mental health care that they may be accessing in the future. The resources of the Center for Mental Health Services Research and the added dimension of this RO3 study to the parent grant made this a worthy and cost-effective investigation.
Total Direct Cost: $100,000