Parental Beliefs About the Causes of Child Problems: Exploring Racial/Ethnic Patterns

Abstract

To examine racial/ethnic patterns of parental beliefs about etiological explanations for youth problems. The parents of 1338 youths with identified mental health problems were asked about their beliefs about the causes for their children's problems from a questionnaire with 11 etiological categories. Parents of African American, Asian/Pacific Islander American, and Latino youths were generally less likely than parents of non-Hispanic whites to endorse etiologies consistent with biopsychosocial beliefs about mental illness. Some racial/ethnic differences were evident for sociological causes, but none existed for spiritual or nature disharmony etiologies. Analyses controlling for factors including child symptomatology produced fewer significant racial/ethnic differences but a similar pattern of results. Racial/ethnic differences in parental beliefs about the causes of child problems exist in an at-risk sample, and implications for the help-seeking, utilization, and effectiveness of biopsychosocially oriented mental health services for diverse populations are discussed.