Cultural Mistrust and Mental Health Services for African Americans

Abstract

The underutilization of mental health services by African Americans may be due, in part, to their cultural mistrust. The purpose of this article is twofold: (a) to conduct a meta-analysis of the correlations between cultural mistrust in African Americans and their attitudes and behaviors related to mental health services use, comparing them to the correlations between cultural mistrust and measures relevant to other psychosocial domains, and (b) to test some methodological hypotheses about the Cultural Mistrust Inventory, the most popular measure of cultural mistrust. The meta-analysis suggests that the negative effects of Blacks’ cultural mistrust in interracial situations are not unique to counseling and psychotherapy but represent a broader perspective. The meta-analysis also suggests that development of the Cultural Mistrust Inventory with a male-only college sample did not compromise its external validity. The implications of these results for the provision of mental health services to African Americans are discussed.