Crazy or not? Latino adolescents' and adults' mental health knowledge and cultural beliefs

Background: Increasing rates of mental health problems among Latino adolescents require understanding that can inform effective culturally meaningful interventions. Similar to other adolescents, Latino youth rely on adult family members to access preventive or treatment mental health services; therefore, accurate understanding of mental health problems and available adolescent-targeted services in the U.S. is critical.

Purposes: To 1) describe the prevalence of mental health knowledge and cultural beliefs among Latino adolescents and adults and 2) examine differences by gender, acculturation, or geographic residence (urban/rural).

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was administered to 353 Latino respondents (95 adolescents; 258 adults) recruited from community agencies in a rural and an urban Midwestern setting. Participants completed a 100-item Emotional Health survey, including four items assessing cultural beliefs of mental health and eight items assessing knowledge of depression. Three acculturation categories were created using language preference and length of time in the US. Data were analyzed using SPSS.

Results: One in 3 adolescents reported knowing someone who had attempted suicide. Adolescents demonstrated greater accuracy of depression knowledge than adult respondents. Most respondents felt they could recognize hopelessness; fewer could distinguish sadness from depression. Fewer than 25% could list three depressive symptoms. Trends in cultural beliefs were similar across sub-groups with some rural/urban differences; rural adults reported more accurate understanding of mental health.

Conclusion: Latino communities will benefit from culturally available mental health educational interventions and resources. Cultural beliefs indicate willingness to seek needed help; system-level barriers need to be eliminated so Latino youth can access care.