Kim Stansbury|Maureen A. Wimsatt|Gaynell M. Simpson|F Vicente Martín|Nancy J. Nelson
African American College Students: Literacy of Depression and Help Seeking
Institute of Social Work
african american college studentsliteracy depression help seeking kim l stansbury bio maureen wimsatt bio gaynell marie simpson bio fayetta martin bio nancy nelson bio depression serious public health concern united states affecting almost 188 million adults office disease prevention health promotion 2003 common mental disorder college students areharttreichel 2002 song et al 2008 estimates 1 4 experiencing episode age 24 american psychiatric assocation apa 2007 african american college students elevated risk depression due racism stress sleep deprivation lack academic social support dzokoto hicks miller 2007 kelly kelly brown kelly 1999 even though 114 african american students selfreported psychiatric diagnosis depression report history utilizing campus counseling community mental health services soet sevig 2006 nationwide 24 americans receive treatment whereas 16 african americans seek services specialty mental health clinics schnittker 2003 african americans often view depression personal weakness dzokoto et al 2007 best addressed faith prayer counseling pharmacology dzokoto et al shellman mokel wright 2007 stigmatization cost treatment lack availability services failing recognize depressive symptoms well known barriers mental health utilization brown palenchar 2004 cooper et al 2003 however date little research addresses african american college students mental health literacy regarding depression systematic empirical knowledge gap regarding african american college students recognition depressive symptoms perspectives treatment options depression must addressed avoid complications leading problems selfmedication drugs alcohol shellman et al therefore purpose research examine african american college students mental health literacy regarding depression previous studies using approach found individuals mental health literate likely seek help andor recommend professional assistance family friends experiencing symptoms depression jorm kitchener okearney dear 2004 methods sample fiftyfour african american college students participated survey mental health literacy inclusion criteria individuals selfidentified african american currently enrolled coursework institution ages 18 24 end page 497 procedure presentations study african american student organizations campus interested students completed written consent form survey students responses confidential instrument description mental health literacy survey consists two vignettes original survey jorm 2000 vignette features either tom mary characters experiencing dsmiv apa 2007 depressive symptoms renamed damon keisha reflect common african american names reading vignette students answered two openended questions would say anything wrong damonkeisha b without professional help think damonkeishas chance recovery researchers coded participants identified depression id group id based first question additionally researchers coded responses second question three categories recover professional help b limited chance recovery without professional help c recover without professional help respondents categorized helping professionals eg social workers psychologists clergy interventions eg antidepressants vitamins admission psychiatric hospital helpful harmful neither helpful harmful person vignette three additional questions guided work mental illness african american culture dzokoto et al 2007 kelly et al 1999 included stigma related mental illness african american culture b needed reduce stigma african american culture c find information mental health finally respondents provided age gender current class standing hometown year graduation family income parents educational background results mental health literacy identified depression general respondents female 38 54 18 years old