Objective: Immigrants from India face unique obstacles, including migration related factors and cultural pressures, that may contribute to... Show moreObjective: Immigrants from India face unique obstacles, including migration related factors and cultural pressures, that may contribute to underutilization of mental health treatment services. The present thesis examined paths between mental health stigma and care-seeking in a sample of first-generation Indian immigrants, with a specific emphasis on the influences of acculturation and parental autonomy support. Method: A sample of 201 first-generation immigrants from India was ascertained using MTurk. Path analysis was conducted to examine the relationships between public stigma of mental illness, disclosure, mental health care-seeking, parental autonomy support, and bi-directional acculturation. Results: Final model was supported by good fit indicators. Greater public stigma was associated with reduced care-seeking, but greater disclosure was associated with increased care-seeking. Interestingly, parental autonomy support, mainstream acculturation, and heritage acculturation facilitated disclosure but had no discernible impact on public stigma. Conclusions: In contrast to traditional anti-stigma strategies that focus on reducing public stigma, present results suggest that it may be more beneficial to facilitate care-seeking by targeting disclosure of status. In turn, disclosure may be promoted by facilitating autonomy supportive social networks and bi-directional acculturation. Show less
