Experiences of racial microaggression among immigrant and Canadian-born young adults: Effects of double stigma on mental health and service use

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.