Asian Americans and European Americans' stigma levels in response to biological and social explanations of depression.

INTRODUCTION: Mental illness stigma is prevalent among Asian Americans, and it is a key barrier that prevents them from seeking psychological services. Limited studies have experimentally examined how Asian Americans respond to biological and social explanations of mental illness. Understanding how to educate and communicate about mental illness effectively is crucial in increasing service utilization among Asian Americans.
PURPOSE: To assess how genetic, neurobiological, and social explanations for the onset of depression affects Asian American and European American's mental illness stigma.
METHODS: 231 Asian Americans and 206 European Americans read about an individual with major depression and were randomly assigned to be informed that the cause was either genetic, neurobiological, social, or unknown. Various stigma outcomes, including social distance, fear, and depression duration were assessed.
RESULTS: Consistent with prior research, Asian Americans had higher baseline levels of stigma compared to European Americans. Greater social essentialist beliefs predicted positive stigma outcomes for Asian Americans, such as a greater willingness to be near, help, and hire someone with depression, but genetic essentialist beliefs predicted negative stigma outcomes, such as fear. In addition, a social explanation for the etiology of depression led to lower stigma outcomes for Asian Americans; it decreased their fear of someone with depression and increased the perception that depression is treatable. For European Americans, both genetic and social essentialist beliefs predicted a greater perception of depression treatability.
CONCLUSION: Although genetics do play a role in the development of depression, emphasizing a social explanation for the origin of depression may help reduce stigma for Asian Americans.

RCT Entities:   Population Interventions Outcomes