Sociocultural Factors and Parent-Therapist Agreement on Explanatory Etiologies for Youth Mental Health Problems

Sociocultural factors were examined in relationship to parent-therapist agreement on beliefs about the etiology of mental health problems in a sample of youth receiving outpatient mental health services (n = 277 parents). When examined individually, racial/ethnic match was unrelated, but higher parental affinity to mainstream American culture, higher parent education level, and greater similarity in parent and therapist scores on affinity to mainstream American culture were all significantly associated with greater parent-therapist co-endorsement of etiological explanations, while higher parental affinity to an alternative/indigenous culture was significantly associated with lower co-endorsement. When examined simultaneously in one model, only parent education level remained significantly associated. Findings suggest a complex relationship between sociocultural factors and that attention to parent cultural affinity and parent education level may facilitate parent-therapist agreement on beliefs about child problem causes.