The Impact of Religiousness and Beliefs About Mental Illness on Help-Seeking Behaviors of Muslim-Americans.

In addition to the typical challenges of daily life, Muslim-Americans have experienced high levels of stress and clinical disorders relating to discrimination from the 9/11 attacks and ongoing political stigma. Despite mounting mental health concerns, Muslim-Americans have encountered multifaceted barriers to accessing mental health services and remain underserved. This study sought to explore the relationship between religiousness and beliefs about mental illness among Muslim-Americans to predict their clinical help-seeking attitudes. Results found that Islamic religiousness and biomedical beliefs predicted more openness to mental health treatment. Additional analyses found that integration with mainstream culture was correlated with higher confidence in services. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.