The current Diversity Supplement proposal examines the relationship between mental health diagnosis and stigma and gender, age, caste, and ethnicity given the disparities around gender and caste that are often mentioned, but not yet systematically investigated. The diversity supplement component will focus on the social determinants of health and social disparities in mental health. In particular, this supplement aims to focus on disparities based on gender and caste given the lack of data on how, and whether, mental health care is equitable across different groups.
The aims of this research project are to evaluate differences in accuracy of mental health diagnosis based on age, gender, and caste/ethnicity as we hypothesize that diagnostic accuracy will be lower among younger, female, and low caste/ethnic minority patients. Another aim of this diversity supplement research project is qualitatively and quantitatively evaluating differences in mental health stigma based on these social determinants. While a lot of data has already been planned to be conducted, Ms. Juan will code qualitative interviews with patients, primary care workers, and trainers and supervisors of mental health care, which will be an inductive and deductive coding approach. Ms. Christina Juan is a Filipina American with research experience and interests in combating disparities in health outcomes and service provision research, and she will be able to provide an under-represented perspective to adolescent mental health and gender issues. Through the Diversity Supplement, Ms. Juan will receive hands-on research training experience to enhance her research potential. Ms. Juan will develop research skills in analysis of clustered health systems data and qualitative data analysis. Additionally, this research will set the foundation for Ms. Juan?s subsequent F31 application to develop a stigma-reduction intervention for health care workers that specifically addresses stigma in relation to young persons, with a focus on young women and young persons from low-caste and ethnic minority groups. Her mentorship team includes: Dr. Brandon Kohrt, Dr. Elizabeth Turner, Dr. Adnan Hyder, and Dr. Emily Mendenhall.
Ms. Juan will serve as a predoctoral researcher on the RESHAPE project given her professional and academic experiences in gender and mental health in low-resource and cross-cultural settings, and will contribute to mixed-methods research activities that are already planned for the duration of the project. While the scope of our activities are not new, Ms. Juan will bring her help the team examine social determinants of health around age, gender, caste, and ethnicity to deepen our understanding of the types of misdiagnoses of mental health by these factors. Ms. Juan will hone her qualitative research and analysis skills, and will focus on intersectional stigma.
