Bridging help-seeking options to Vietnamese Americans with parent–child conflict and depressive symptoms

To help practitioners bridge services to their clients who face family problems, this research aims to identify help-seeking behaviors among Vietnamese Americans who have experienced parent–child conflict and depression. The 2008 Asian Survey found that 46.3% of 572 Vietnamese Americans experienced parent–child conflict and 30.2% reported depressive symptoms. Having parent–child conflicts or depressive symptoms did not predict help-seeking from mental health professionals. Logistic regression results show that having parent–child conflict would increase the likelihood by 81.7% of a thinking that the problem will be naturally resolved; having depressive symptoms would increase the likelihood of seeking help from herbalists by 1.718 times and from medical doctors by 39.7%. Service strategies should include offering educational programs by multidisciplinary professionals with a focus on the natural aspect of building parent–child bonding.

Research highlights► 2008 Asian Survey found that 46.3% of 572 Vietnamese Americans experienced parent-child conflict and 30.2% reported depressive symptoms. ► Having parent-child conflicts or depressive symptoms did not predict help-seeking from mental health professionals. ► Logistic regression results show that having parent-child conflict would increase the likelihood by 81.7% of a thinking that the problem will be naturally resolved. ► Having depressive symptoms would increase the likelihood of seeking help from herbalist by 1.718 times and from medical doctors by 39.7%.