Both cursory and in-depth reviews of the social and behavioral science literature show that studies of the helpseeking behaviors of African American males are miniscule in comparison to analyses of their poor-to-marginal health and social status in the United States. Yet, the health and help-seeking behaviors of African American men have been implicated in their higher rates of morbidity and mortality. This study, the Male African American Help-Seeking Study (MAAHS), focuses on African American males leaving the foster care system. MAAHS builds on an NIMH-funded project (1RO 1MH061404-01A1) that examines the mental health and service use of older adolescents leaving the foster care system. Specifically, MAAHS adds a focus on the influence of stigma, mistrust, and satisfaction with prior social and mental-health services on current and subsequent use of mental health services and the readiness of African American males to seek professional help in the future. MAAHS will also explore, qualitatively, the characteristics of African American males' current and former service utilization histories that are associated with low readiness to use social and mental health services in the future. Data on 90 African American males will be collected at two points in time. At baseline, participants will be administered a structured questionnaire that collects data about stigma, mistrust, and prior service satisfaction. A follow-up, semi-structured interview (6-months later) will collect numerical and non-numerical data about African American males' voluntary use of professional social and mental health services during the previous 6- months and their readiness to use these services in the future. Loglinear analyses will be conducted with the quantitative data to determine whether stigma, mistrust, and prior service satisfaction is related to mental health service use and readiness. Qualitative data will be entered into QSR NU*DIST and coded based on recurrent themes from open-ended responses. Hence, this study provides an opportunity for the voices of African American males leaving foster care to inform services that are rendered to their future counterparts in the foster care system and the adult systems of mental health care that they may be accessing in the future. The resources of the Center for Mental Health Services Research and the added dimension of this RO3 study to the parent grant make this a worthy and cost-effective investigation. ? ?
