Child Mental Health Services and Psychotherapy Attitudes Among Asian Indian Parents: An Exploratory Study

This exploratory study examined how parents’ past personal use of psychotherapy related to perceived stigma and attitudes on intentions to use child mental health services among Asian Indian parents living in the United States. Participants were 89 Asian Indian parents recruited from 2009 to 2010 through a convenience sample. Descriptive analyses showed that Asian Indian parents reported similar attitudes as their American counterparts, but more stigma than European American and Latino parents. Using t-tests, results indicated that Asian Indian parents who previously used psychotherapy reported more positive attitudes than parents with no history of service use. Additionally, findings indicated that mothers reported more openness to seeking services than fathers. Finally, psychotherapy attitudes significantly predicted parents’ intentions to seek services for their child in the future. Implications for research, practice, and policy are discussed.