Mental Health and Attitudes Toward Seeking Counseling in Mexican Americans: Exploring Values and Social Class

Abstract

As previous research points to the importance of studying a specific ethnic group due to within group differences among the Latinx community, this research focused on Mexican Americans’ mental health disparities by examining mental health and attitudes toward seeking counseling in relation to relevant cultural factors, such as cultural values, generational status, and social class. Based on a sample of 350 Mexican American college students, the findings revealed that better mental health was related to lower adherence of the familism value, higher adherence of the respect value, and higher subjective social class. Moreover, more positive attitudes toward seeking counseling was related to lower adherence to familism and traditional gender role cultural values. Lastly, our findings did not support the moderation hypothesis by generational status. Mental health professionals need to consider that multidimensional cultural aspects operate differently by hindering or enhancing help-seeking attitudes and mental health.