The effects of discrimination and acculturation to service seeking satisfaction for Latina and Asian American women: implications for mental health professions.

There is ample research showing that there are health disparities for minorities with respect to seeking mental health services in the United States. Although there are general barriers for minorities in seeking service health, minority women are more vulnerable due to their negative experiences and lower satisfaction in receiving health care, compared to men. This study utilized the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS) data set, which is the first population-based mental health study on Latino and Asian Americans, to give a full description of Latina and Asian American women's experience in mental health service seeking and identifies the opportunities in increasing their satisfaction levels. The results showed that perceived discrimination attributed to gender or race/ethnicity is negatively predicting levels of satisfaction of mental health service seeking. Older age, higher education levels, longer duration in the United States, and better mental health, are positively related to satisfaction levels for Latina and Asian American women.