A Moderated Mediation Model of Asian Values Predicting Professional Help-Seeking: Exploring God-Centered Self-Esteem as a Protective Factor Against Stigma

Asian Americans, the fastest-growing ethnic minority in the United States, continue to experience instances of racial microaggression and marginalization that result in feelings of anger, frustration, and increased risks of mental health disorders (Budiman & Ruiz, 2021; Sue et al., 2007; Tessler et al., 2021; Yip et al., 2021). Despite being exposed to risk factors linked with mental health problems, Asian American communities persistently exhibit low rates of mental health service utilization. The discrepancy in mental health service utilization is particularly pronounced among Asian Americans in the Christian community (Lukachko et al., 2015). While past literature explores the role of demographic variables and Asian values to explain this disparity, the current study utilizes Hayes' (2018) methodology to test a moderated mediation model exploring the role of stigma by close others and God-center self-esteem contributing to Asian values and help-seeking attitudes. As predicted, God-centered self-esteem moderated the mediating relationship between Asian values enculturation and professional help-seeking attitudes through perceived stigma by others. Implications and limitations of these findings are discussed, pertaining to the integration of religion/spirituality in appropriate outreach efforts and therapeutic contexts to improve the well-being of Asian American Christians.