Depressive symptoms and help-seeking behaviors among Korean Americans

Korean Americans represent the fifth largest group of Asian Americans in the USA. This exploratory survey of 205 Korean Americans (92.2 percent foreign born) found that those with depressive symptoms tend to be younger, have lower incomes, and are more concerned about their basic needs, community/social needs, family relationship issues, and healthcare issues than those without depressive symptoms. Income, healthcare concerns, and anxiety were significant predictors of depression. The likelihood of having depressive symptoms among Korean Americans with anxiety was 240 times higher than among those without anxiety, but acculturation was not a significant contributing factor. Most respondents tended to seek advice about their mental health problems from physicians and non-mental health professionals (friends and religious healers). Implications for social work education, research, practice, and policy are discussed in relation to the need to use evidence-based practice data to plan culturally relevant services for ethnic minorities.