Latino/a help-seeking behavior and endorsement of common factors

Reasons for underutilization of mental health services by the Latino/a population have been examined in previous research. In the current study, I explored Latino/as college students' perceptions of the common factors in therapy and how these perceptions explain willingness to seek professional mental health services. A comparison group of European American college students was utilized to examine similarities and differences between racial groups. No statistically significant differences were noted between groups for the perceived helpfulness of the common factors. However, perceptions of helpfulness significantly accounted for more variance in willingness to seek help for Latino/as (15%) than European Americans (5%) when controlling for previous therapy experiences.