Evaluation of Three Types of Mental Health Treatment Outcome for Asian American Clients.

Abstract

The present study examined several client demographic, clinical, and service provider variables and their relationship to treatment outcome as defined as premature termination in the first month of treatment, treatment length (total number of completed psychotherapy sessions), and change in pre/post-treatment Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scores for 1,030 Asian Americans (193 Cambodian, 349 Chinese, 134 Iu Mien, 113 Korean, and 241 Vietnamese) seeking individual psychotherapy from an ethnic-specific mental health service provider. Results showed that more educated clients, who spoke English as their primary language, were client-therapist Asian language matched, or assigned their intake therapist as their primary therapist were less likely to prematurely terminate from treatment. Korean Americans also reported the highest rates of premature termination in this sample. To account for clients who discontinued treatment in the first month, subsequent analyses on treatment length and pre/post-treatment GAF scores were completed on a smaller sample of 937 Asian Americans (187 Cambodian, 318 Chinese, 127 Iu Mien, 91 Korean, and 214 Vietnamese). Results showed that clients who were women, Cambodian or Iu Mien American, completed more medication consultation appointments, or averaged more therapy sessions per week reported longer treatment lengths. In contrast, clients who were discharged or referred to other facilities by therapists or diagnosed with an adjustment disorder completed shorter treatment lengths. Results also showed that clients who completed more medication consultation appointments, were discharged or referred to other facilities by their therapists, had longer treatment lengths, or were diagnosed with an adjustment disorder reported a larger difference in pre/post-treatment GAF scores. In contrast, Cambodian Americans and clients who averaged more therapy sessions per week reported with smaller differences in pre/post-treatment GAF scores. In general, the results of this dissertation study suggest there may be culturally related factors unique to specific Asian American ethnic groups that may influence differential treatment outcome. Furthermore, the findings suggest the need for greater care and consideration in studying how ethnic-specific services are being delivered to various Asian American groups and underscores the importance of evaluating the treatment needs of Asian American groups separately rather than an aggregate whole.