Acculturation, Ethnic Identity, and Attitudes Toward Seeking Mental Health Among Albanians Living in the United States

During the process of adapting to a new culture immigrants may experience many stressors that often negatively impact their psychological well-being. A large number of studies have focused on understanding the acculturation experience and process of many ethnic and racial minority groups such as African American, Latino/a Americans, and Asian Americans and how such experience influence these communities' attitudes towards seeking psychological help. However, little attention has been paid to understanding the immigrant experience of small, yet growing communities of Albanians living across the United State. The current study fills in the gap in the already diverse literature by examining the role that acculturation and ethnic identity play in attitudes towards seeking mental health among Albanians immigrants. The sample in this study consisted of 118 Albanian immigrants currently living in different states who completed three scales measuring their acculturation levels, ethnic identity, as well as attitudes toward seeking mental health treatments. In addition, demographic information (i.e., age, education levels, years in the U.S.) were gathered. The results showed that for this sample of Albanian immigrants there were no relationship between acculturation and ethnic identity levels and attitudes toward seeking mental health assistance from a professional psychologist. However, after controlling for all demographic variables, a small, significant correlation emerged between dominant society immersion and attitudes toward seeking mental health services. In addition, knowing someone with mental illness was the strongest explanatory demographic variable of attitudes toward seeking treatment. Also, the results showed no sex differences in acculturation levels, ethnic identity, and attitude towards seeking professional psychological help. These findings point to the importance of developing and constructing measurements for Albanians in order to accurately measure and better understand the experience of this unique population.