Depression and help seeking among Mexican-Americans: the mediating role of familism.

Increased depression symptomatology results in a reduced willingness to seek help from family. Focusing on Mexican-Americans, the current study hypothesized that the a reduction in favorable perceptions of familial relations could be partially to blame for limited help seeking among people with depression. Data were collected from 84 Mexican-Americans. Measures assessed depression symptomatology, familism, perceptions of help seeking from family, and demographics. As predicted: (1) depression symptomatology was negatively associated with perceptions of help seeking from family; (2) familism was positively associated with perceptions of help seeking from family; and, (3) depression symptomatology was negatively associated with familism. Further, familism partially mediated the relationship between depression symptomatology and help seeking comfort, as well as between depression symptomatology and the perceived utility of familial help seeking. The results indicate a reduction in familistic values may be partially responsible for reduced help seeking among Mexican-Americans with depression.