Beyond the Cultural Script: Examining Help-Seeking Recommendations for OCD within Latino Communities

Background and Purpose: A persistent assumption in social work education and culturally informed practice holds that Latino communities prefer informal sources of support (family, clergy, and community networks) over formal mental health services. This narrative has shaped clinical training, outreach strategies, and referral practices, often delaying or diverting Latinos away from evidence-based treatment. Despite its widespread acceptance, this assumption rests on a thin empirical foundation, particularly for Latinos experiencing obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a condition that is significantly underdiagnosed and undertreated across racial and ethnic minority populations. This study addressed that gap by directly examining formal versus informal help-seeking preferences among Latino adults and exploring the demographic and religiosity-related factors associated with those preferences.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was employed with a community sample of Latino adults (N = 424) recruited through bilingual English/Spanish outreach. Participants read randomized vignettes depicting individuals presenting with OCD symptoms and indicated whether they would recommend formal mental health services (e.g., licensed therapist, psychiatrist) or informal sources of support (e.g., family, religious leaders). The Duke University Religion Index assessed multidimensional religiosity across organizational, non-organizational, and intrinsic dimensions. Logistic regression analyses examined predictors of formal versus informal help-seeking recommendations.

Results: Contrary to prevailing cultural assumptions, 94% of participants recommended formal mental health services over informal support sources. This preference held across immigration generation, language preference, cultural orientation, and all three dimensions of religiosity. No statistically significant differences in help-seeking recommendations were found across these subgroups, indicating that the preference for professional care was robust and not moderated by variables commonly invoked to explain assumed informal preferences.

Conclusions and Implications: These findings directly challenge a foundational assumption shaping culturally informed social work practice with Latino clients. Rather than defaulting to informal referrals as culturally congruent alternatives, practitioners should recognize that Latino adults often actively prefer professional mental health care, and that assuming otherwise may constitute a barrier rather than a bridge to treatment. For social work education, these results call for critical reexamination of how cultural competency curricula frame Latino help-seeking. Findings carry important implications for reducing treatment disparities and advancing equity-centered approaches to mental health outreach within Latinx communities.