Examining Psychological Distress and Mental Health Care Utilization in Filipino Adolescents

Background: In the area of mental health, Filipino youth have gained increasing attention as an especially high-need group. Studies have showed mixed findings regarding the prevalence of depression in Filipino adolescents and few studies have examined mental health service utilization. Objectives: To compare measures of psychological distress and mental health care utilization for Filipino adolescents, compared with Non-Hispanic whites. Methods: This cross-sectional study used data from the 2003/2005 California Health Interview Survey to examine the relationship between ethnicity and psychological distress and mental health care utilization in a sample of 4371 adolescents (aged 12-17). Psychological distress was measured by a modified 8-item version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression scale. Results: Compared to non-Hispanic whites, Filipinos were more likely to report psychological distress (30.2% vs. 17.9%) but less likely to report receiving any psychological counseling in the past twelve months (4.6% vs. 13.2%). Multivariate analyses revealed that poverty, female gender, and having a parent with less than high school education was associated with higher reports of psychological distress while Filipino ethnicity was a protective factor (OR 0.49, 95% CI:0.30-0.79). Living in a single parent household was the only factor associated with increased mental health care utilization. Conclusion: Filipinos are a high risk group for psychological distress but less likely to utilize mental health care. However, controlling for demographic factors, Filipino ethnicity reduced the risk of psychological distress. Further studies examining ethnic identity and barriers to mental health care utilization are needed.