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Ethnic and Gender Differences in Help Seeking for Substance Disorders Among Black Americans

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Abstract

This paper uses the National Survey of American Life (NSAL) to examine within group differences regarding help-seeking for substance disorders among a US sample of African American and Caribbean Black men and women. We examined ethnic and gender differences in the type of providers sought for substance disorder treatment, as well as reasons for avoiding treatment. Results indicate that overall, few ethnic differences exist; however, African Americans are more likely than Caribbean Blacks to seek help from human service professionals (including a religious or spiritual advisor) and from informal sources of treatment such as self-help groups. Black men with a substance disorder were more likely to see a psychiatrist than Black women. Findings regarding reasons for avoiding treatment suggest that there may be a need to provide better education about the utility of substance disorder treatment, even before problems reach a high level of severity.

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Acknowledgments

Dr. Redmond was supported through the following postdoctoral training grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse training grant #T32DA007267 and in part by National Institute of Mental Health training grant #T32 MH16806-25. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIDA, NIMH, or NIH. The NSAL is supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (grant U01-MH57716) with supplemental support from the Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research at the National Institutes of Health and the University of Michigan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita, 1010 N. Kansas, Wichita, KS, 67214, USA

    Michelle L. Redmond

  2. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Daphne C. Watkins, Jamie M. Abelson & Harold W. Neighbors

  3. Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Clifford L. Broman

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  1. Michelle L. Redmond
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  2. Daphne C. Watkins
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  3. Clifford L. Broman
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  4. Jamie M. Abelson
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  5. Harold W. Neighbors
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Correspondence to Michelle L. Redmond.

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The authors report no conflict of interest. The data used in this study represent secondary data analysis. Previous studies have reported on the informed consent procedures that were followed in the 191 collection of the data [21, 26].

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Redmond, M.L., Watkins, D.C., Broman, C. et al. Ethnic and Gender Differences in Help Seeking for Substance Disorders Among Black Americans. J. Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities 4, 308–316 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-016-0230-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-016-0230-3

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