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Alice Lim, Psy.D., is a 2018 graduate of the Psy.D. Program in Clinical Psychology at Antioch University, New England

Dissertation Committee:

  • Roger Peterson, PhD, ABPP, Committee Chair
  • David Hamolsky, PsyD, Committee Member
  • M. Lee Leppanen, PsyD, Committee Member

Keywords

Korean Americans, stigma, help seeking attitude, social distance, NAMI

Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Date

2018

Abstract

Stigma is a major barrier to mental health service utilization and treatment adherence. Effective anti-stigma interventions have been identified using predominantly Caucasian research subjects. Participation in research studies by other racial and ethnic groups has been limited. This pilot study examined the external reliability of Wood and Wahl’s (2006) study, which examined the effectiveness of an anti-stigma program, In Our Own Voice (IOOV), by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) among predominantly Caucasian undergraduate students. An older Korean ESOL group in a Korean community center in New York City (N = 20) served as the participants in this study and attended either a culturally adapted older version (N = 8) or a culturally adapted updated version (N = 12) of the IOOV program. Participants completed four pre-test measures of knowledge and attitudes that targeted public stigma and repeated the same four measures at post-test. Lastly, the participants provided feedback about the IOOV program. Participants who attended the older IOOV program indicated greater willingness to interact with individuals with a mental illness over time while participants who attended the updated IOOV program reported decreased willingness to interact with individuals with a mental illness over time. Improvement in knowledge and willingness to seek professional help were found in both groups. Compared to the college sample in Wood and Wahl’s study, participants in the ESOL class obtained lower means across measures. Follow-up studies need to be conducted to increase the effect size and reliability of this pilot study’s findings.

Comments

Alice Lim

ORCID Scholar ID# 0000-0002-7397-0724

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