Date of Award
Summer 8-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department/Program
Forensic Psychology
Language
English
First Advisor or Mentor
Philip Yanos
Second Reader
Cynthia Calkins
Third Advisor
Elizabeth Jeglic
Abstract
Despite the surge of the Korean population within the United States, the Korean-American population is significantly underrepresented in research when observed separately from other Asian groups. The Republic of Korea has had the highest suicide rate within the OECD nations for well over a decade (Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development), and evidence suggests that the risk of suicidality may extend to Koreans living abroad (Kung, 2018). There is also evidence of high prevalence of depressive symptoms in Korean-Americans (Bernstein et al., 2011). In addition, Koreans are consistently demonstrated to hold stigmatizing beliefs about mental illness, however, very little research has examined stigma quantitatively among Korean-Americans. The purpose of this study was to examine the Korean-American population and the attitudes and beliefs it has toward having depression or suicidal ideation, which are the types of mental distress most commonly experienced in the population. With permission from non-profit organizations and social media groups, an online survey link was distributed to potential participants within the Korean-American community. Quantitative and open-ended questions pertaining to both groups with and without experience of depressive symptoms, self-harm, or serious thoughts of death were asked, as the study seeks to observe both public and self-stigma in the community. Five scales were used including a measure of identification with Korean culture as well as four other scales meant to measure stigma level directly. Though there were no significant correlations with acculturation to Korean culture and stigma measures, other notable findings arose such as the 1.5 generation immigrants showing the highest self-stigma to seeking help. Those with experience of clinical diagnosis and self-harm had a higher likelihood of having higher self-identification to mental illness as well as lower identification with the Korean culture. The self-harm group also endorsed a significantly higher self-stigma of depression. The group with thoughts of death also had higher self-awareness than the group without, and exhibited significantly lower self-stigma of seeking help. Findings suggest that the association between stigma and help-seeking for depression among Korean-Americans is complex, but that persons who are more acculturated to Korean culture are less likely to seek help for depression.
Recommended Citation
Kim, Soo Min, "Mental Health Stigma Related to Depression and Suicidal Behavior in Korean-Americans" (2024). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/jj_etds/326
