Search

Background: Significant disparities in utilization of mental health services exist among immigrant and Canadian-born populations. These gaps may be associated with a 'double stigma' - stigma related to being from a racialized background exacerbated by mental health stigma. Immigrant young adults may be particularly susceptible to this phenomenon, given developmental and social transitions from adolescence to adulthood., Aims: To investigate the joint effects of racial microaggression and mental health stigma on mental health and service use among first-generation immigrant and Canadian-born university students., Method: We conducted an online cross-sectional study among first-generation immigrant and Canadian-born university students (N = 1,280, M age  = 19.10, SD  = 1.50)., Results: Despite no differences in anxiety or depression symptoms, first-generation (foreign-born) immigrants were less likely to have received therapy and to have taken medication for mental health issues compared to Canadian-born participants. First-generation immigrants also reported experiencing higher levels of racial microaggression and stigma toward service use. Results suggest the presence of a double stigma, mental health stigma and racial microaggression, each explained significant additional variance in symptoms of anxiety and depression and medication use. No effects of double stigma for therapy use were found - while higher mental health stigma predicted lower use of therapy, racial microaggression did not predict unique variance in therapy use., Conclusions: Our findings highlight the joint effects of racial microaggression and stigma toward mental health and service as barriers to help-seeking among immigrant young adults. Mental health intervention and outreach programmes should target overt and covert forms of racial discrimination while incorporating culturally sensitive anti-stigma approaches to help reduce disparities in mental health service use among immigrants in Canada.

Concerns have been raised about the loneliness and well-being of children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic. The extent to which the ongoing pandemic has impacted loneliness and the association between loneliness and well-being is unclear. Therefore, a systematic review of empirical studies on the COVID-19 pandemic was conducted to examine the (1) prevalence of loneliness in children and adolescents, (2) associations between loneliness and indicators of well-being, and (3) moderators of these associations. Five databases (MEDLINE, Embase, PsycInfo, Web of Science, ERIC) were searched from 1 January 2020 to 28 June 2022 and 41 studies met our inclusion criteria (cross-sectional: n = 30; longitudinal: n = 11; registered on PROSPERO: CRD42022337252). Cross-sectional prevalence rates of pandemic loneliness varied, with some finding that over half of children and adolescents experienced at least moderate levels of loneliness. Longitudinal results reflected significant mean increases in loneliness compared to pre-pandemic levels. Cross-sectional results indicated that higher levels of loneliness were significantly associated with poorer well-being, including higher depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms, gaming addiction, and sleep problems. Longitudinal associations between loneliness and well-being were more complex than cross-sectional associations, varying by assessment timing and factors in the statistical analyses. There was limited diversity in study designs and samples, preventing a thorough examination of moderating characteristics. Findings highlight a broader challenge with child and adolescent well-being that predates the pandemic and the need for future research to examine underrepresented populations across multiple timepoints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "The Association Between Cyberbullying Victimization and Adolescent Mental health: A Comparative Study Between Traditional Types of Bullying Versus Cyberbullying" by Soyeon Kim and colleagues is presented.