Do Black and White Americans Differ in Willingness to Engage in Traditional, Alternative, and Religious Treatment Modalities for Depression?: A Hypothetical Vignette Study.

Black Americans have lower engagement in traditional mental health treatment compared to White Americans. However, complementary and alternative medicine is widely used, can be integrated into traditional treatment, and may have fewer barriers associated with it than traditional treatment. This study examined Black and White Americans' hypothetical willingness to engage in depression treatment options across modalities (traditional vs. alternative vs. religious vs. none) as well as factors associated with reported willingness to engage in treatment (i.e., race, symptom severity, religiosity). Participants (n = 185; 92 Black Americans, 93 White Americans) were presented with four vignettes describing varying severities of depression symptomatology and indicated their likelihood of using various treatment modalities. Repeated measures ANOVAsH indicated that as symptom severity increased, participants reported greater willingness to engage in traditional treatments. Conversely, as symptom severity decreased, participants reported greater willingness to engage in alternative treatments. Overall, participants reported greater willingness to engage in alternative treatments. Treatment willingness did not differ by race, but greater religiosity-which was higher in Black participants-was associated with greater willingness to engage in religious treatment. Further research is needed concerning other factors affecting willingness to engage in alternative treatment, as is a better understanding of when and why people are more willing to seek alternative treatment.