Mental Health Care among Asian Americans: Results from the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS)

This study examines Asian Americans' mental health services, health insurance coverage and access to health care. Our data came from the National Latino and Asian American Study, a nationally representative community household survey which describes the prevalence of mental disorders and rates of mental health utilization by Latinos and Asian Americans in the United States. The study employed logistic regression models to assess service use patterns of the three subgroups of Asian Americans: Chinese, Filipino, and Vietnamese. Results reveal that married Asian Americans were less likely to use mental health services in the past 12 months than their single counterparts, and those with Medicaid are more likely to use health care services and mental health services than those with private insurance or no insurance. Results also show the disparity between mental health care received by Asian Americans and that received by Caucasians. This may be partly because of Asian patients failed to seek care until their conditions became severe. The findings also reveal that immigrants are more likely to use specialists, as compared with U.S.-born respondents. Finally, the findings suggest that health care professionals must provide cultural and linguistic minorities with more access and referrals to specialists, especially mental health professionals.