Predictive Factors of Professional Psychological Help-Seeking Attitudes Among Resettled Burmese Community

Background and Purpose: The current study examines the factors influencing psychological help-seeking attitudes among resettled Burmese in the United States(US). The extant refugee research suggests that the cumulative experience of pre-migration traumatic events and post-migration stressors places them at greater risk for adverse mental health outcomes. As such, mental health disorders are disproportionately higher in the refugee population than in the general population. Despite the well-documented mental health risks for refugees, there is a significant under-utilization of mental health services among refugees compared to the general population due to both structural and cultural barriers, such as linguistic barriers, mental health stigma, and a lack of knowledge about or unfamiliarity with mental health services. Similar to refugees from other countries, Burmese refugees have also experienced numerous remigration traumatic events and post-migration stressors. Emerging research has also identified the prevalence of psychological distress among this population. However, much less is known about the factors influencing psychological help-seeking attitudes among this population. Thus, the current study seeks to fill this gap and add to existing knowledge by examining the association between beliefs about mental illness and self-stigma of seeking professional help with psychological help-seeking attitudes among this population.

Methods. Data for this cross-sectional study came from a convenient sample of 240 resettled Burmese in the US. Participants completed the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help (ATSPPH, two subscales: openness and value), the Beliefs About Mental illness Scale (BMI, with four sub-scales: Dangerousness, Poor Social and Interpersonal Skills, Embarrassment, and Incurability),Self-Stigma of Seeking Professional Help, and demographic factors (age, gender, education, relationship status, and time in the US) through a self-administered survey questionnaire. Independent sample t-test or ANOVA explores differences in the main study variables by demographic factors. Multivariate linear regression explored the factors associated with ATSPPH.

Results. Respondents ranged in age from 18 two 65 (M=31.2); 52.5% were females;62.5% were unmarried; 84.5% had completed high school or above; 60.4% were employed; and the mean years in the US we're 9.7. Results of ANOVA revealed that those with lower education reported significantly higher mean scores on BMI subscales of dangerousness and embarrassment. Regression analysis revealed that older age (ß=-0.16), lower education (ß=-0.16), self-stigma (ß=-0.25), BMI-dangerousness (ß=-0.15), BMI-poor social and interpersonal skills (ß=-0.25), and BMI-embarrassment (ß=-0.14) was significantly associated with lower openness to seeking professional help. Whereas older age (ß=-0.16), self-stigma (ß=-0.22), BMI-incurability (ß=-0.18), and BMI-poor social and interpersonal skills (ß=-0.15) were significantly associated with a lower value in seeking help.

Conclusions and Implications. Findings revealed that older age, lower education, self-stigma of seeking help, and negative beliefs about mental illness emerged as significant predictors of psychological help-seeking attitudes. These findings suggest the need for a greater understanding of cultural beliefs and interpretation of mental health problems and symptom expression, which may influence their subsequent help-seeking attitudes. Additionally, there is also a need too increase efforts for community-level psycho-education, using language and terminologies that they can understand too help address these cultural barriers and beliefs about mental illness in working with this population.