An Examination of Depression Self-Stigma in Asian and Caucasian Canadians.

Depression is a serious mental disorder that is highly prevalent among Canadians. Stigma associated with depression is a key barrier in preventing depressed individuals from seeking psychological services. This type of help-seeking behavior is especially low in Asian individuals, which can be accounted for by the stigmatization of depression in this population. However, little research has been conducted on depression stigma in East Asian Canadians; specifically, those who are Chinese, Korean, and Japanese. Furthermore, no research has directly investigated self-stigma for depression in this population. The present study hypothesized that Asian Canadians would exhibit higher self-stigma for depression than Caucasian Canadians. To assess for this hypothesis, the present study recruited Asian and Caucasian undergraduate students and employed several surveys assessing depression stigma. Consistent with previous literature, the analyses revealed that the Asian participants had higher scores on some measures of social stigma, including attributions of blame, fear, and dangerousness towards a depressed individual. The present study indicated that Asian participants exhibited higher self-stigma, including an overall lower level of self-respect. However, there were no differences on any other stigma inventories. Possible explanations, limitations and future directions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]