Abstract

This study examines current trends of university counseling center utilization among Latino students at a large, private, western university. We examined counseling center data for Latino (n=1,231) and European American (EA) (n=18,125) students who presented for counseling services from 1996-2013. Latino students were divided into three subgroups, U.S. born Latino students (USB), international Latino students (IB), and Latino students who were born internationally but who are now U.S. citizens (IBUS). These three subgroups were compared with the EA student group on multiple variables; therapy utilization, length of treatment, Outcome Questionnaire (OQ) score at intake, OQ change, therapy usage by gender, and intake responses to the Family Concerns Survey and Presenting Problems Checklist. IB students presented for treatment with significantly higher levels of distress than any other group. EA students were more likely to attend therapy than any Latino subgroup. EA students also did not endorse any familial concerns or presenting problems at higher rates than any Latino subgroup. Further research is needed to understand why Latino subgroups are experiencing more distress and attend less treatment than EA counterparts and to look more in depth at resources for IB students, who appear to be the most at-risk Latino subgroup.

Degree

PhD

College and Department

David O. McKay School of Education; Counseling Psychology and Special Education

Rights

http://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/

Date Submitted

2019-07-01

Document Type

Dissertation

Handle

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/etd12243

Keywords

Latino, counseling center, international student

Language

english

Download

Share

COinS