Mental Health Attitudes and Perspectives of Arab Americans: Exploring Preferred Mental Health Resources, Perceived Barriers to Treatment, and Telemental Health

• Date: 26 August 2024
• Pages: 525-539
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMHSC-02-2024-0024
• Published date: 26 August 2024
• Subject Matter: Health & social care,Vulnerable groups,Inequalities & diverse/minority groups,Sociology,Race & ethnic studies,Minorities,Multiculturalism,Racial identity,Work,economy & organizations,Labour movements
• Author: George Ghassan Issa Kidess,Liam Browning,Nicole Oska,Liza Hinchey,Arwa Saleem,Sadie Knill,Malaak Elhage,Arash Javanbakht

Mental Health Attitudes and Perspectives of

Arab Americans: Exploring Preferred Mental

Health Resources, Perceived Barriers to

Treatment, and Telemental Health

George Ghassan Issa Kidess, Liam Browning, Nicole Oska, Liza Hinchey , Arwa Saleem,

Sadie Knill, Malaak Elhage and Arash Javanbakht

Abstract

Purpose –Arab Americans experience higher rates of mental illness and lower rates of treatment

compared to the general population.While some factors leading to this disparity have been proposed,

data in the literature remainslacking. This study aims to explore the mental health perspectivesof Arab

Americans living in Southeastern Michigan regarding barriers to mental health treatment, treatment

resourcepreferences and telemental health preferences.

Design/methodology/approach –Responses were collected through an anonymous bilingual

Qualtrics survey from both Arab and non-Arab participants (n¼294, ages 18þ) in Southeastern

Michigan. Participants’ perceptions regarding mental health barriers, resource preferences and

telemental health were assessed. Comparisons were performed between Arabs and non-Arabs, and

among Arabs.

Findings –Compared to non-Arabs, Arabs were less likely to seek mental health treatment from a

therapist or a primary care provider and were more likely to not seek treatment. Arabs were more likely

than non-Arabs to list fear of being called crazy by others and cultural barriers. With regards to

preferences on telemental health utilization, no significant differences between Arab and non-Arab

participantswere found.

Originality/value –The results provide insights into Arab-American mental health perspectives,

especially pertaining to mental health barriers, resources andtelemental health preferences, adding a

novel perspective on the mentalhealth preferences of Arab-American subgroups, especially regarding

gender and age differences. This study highlights the Arab-American population as a nuanced and

diverse group, emphasizingthe importance of future studies to show a more completepicture of Arab-

Americanmental health.

Keywords Arab American, Mental health, Attitudes, Telemedicine, Stigma (MeSH)

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

Arab Americans are disproportionately affected by mental illness compared to the general

USA population (Jadalla and Lee, 2012). In some studies of adult Arab-Americans, about

half of respondents met criteria for depression and one quarter met the criteria for anxiety

disorders, with even higher rates in refugeepopulations; which comprise a large part of the

Arab-American population (Amer and Hovey, 2011;Pampati et al., 2018;Javanbakht et al.,

2018). Despite experiencing high levels of mental health disparities, Arab and Muslim

Americans are consistently shown to seek treatment less than the general population and

other minorities (Tanhan and Young,2021).

(Informationabout the

authorscan be found at the

end of this article.)

Received 27 February 2024

Revised 20 June 2024

Accepted 6 August 2024

The authors thank the Arab

Community Center for

Economic and Social Services

(ACCESS) and the National

Arab American Medical

Association (NAAMA) for help

in distributing our survey.

Funding: No funding was

received for conducting this

study.

Conflict of interest: The authors

declare that they have no conflict

of interest.

Statements and declarations:

The authors have no financial or

proprietary interests in any

materialdiscussedin this article.

Financial interests: The authors

declare they have no financial

interests.

Ethics approval: App roval

was obtained from the e thics

committee of WayneState

University –IRB #22-07-4777.

The procedures used i n this

study adhere to the tenet s of

the Declaration of He lsinki.

Consent to participat e:

Informed consent was obtained

from all individual participants

included in the study. No

identifying information was

collected from individual

participants included in the study.

Data and study materials are

available upon request to the

corresponding author.

DOI 10.1108/IJMHSC-02-2024-0024 VOL. 20 NO. 4 2024, pp. 525-539, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1747-9894 jINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MIGRATION, HEALTHAND SOCIAL CARE jPAGE 525