Attitudes towards depression and its treatment among white, hispanic, and multiracial adults

Depression is present in all societies and affects members of all racial and ethnic groups. However, attitudes about depression differ across groups and have been shown to impact help-seeking behaviors, preferences for treatments, and compliance with treatments.

Taking a cross-cultural approach, this project used a case vignette of depression to examine race/ethnic group differences in attitudes about depression and its treatment among young adults in the U.S.

Data analyses revealed significant racial/ethnic group differences in attitudes as well as the treatments/strategies participants reported they would use. Gender x race/ethnicity interactions revealed that White and Multiracial/ethnic men were more likely to believe the vignette character should find a partner to help with symptoms, while White and Multiracial/ethnic women did not endorse those strategies. Hispanic men and women did not show a gender difference in that strategy, but gender differences were observed in other strategies. In a rare comparison, majority-minority Multiracial/ethnic participants (i.e., White selected as one of their races/ethnicities) rated identified helpers and treatments similarly to White participants and significantly higher than multiple-minority Multiracial participants (i.e., White not selected as one of their races/ethnicities).

Findings supported previous research that indicates different U.S. racial/ethnic group ideas of depression and its treatment are potentially linked with cultural values, and we suggest that investigating these more fine-grained group differences can help to inform treating professionals as well as public health messages.