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The Family’s Role in Mental Health Care: Perceptions of Bay Area Muslims

Authors:
Aminah McBryde-Redzovic at University of Illinois Chicago
Aminah McBryde-Redzovic
Iman Mahoui
Iman Mahoui
Iman Mahoui
  • This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.
Fairuziana Humam at University of Miami
Fairuziana Humam
Leena Raza
Leena Raza
Leena Raza
  • This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.
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Abstract

This qualitative study examines perceptions of Muslims living in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, United States, regarding the family’s role in mental health help-seeking and well-being. This study employed a community-based participatory research approach through content analysis of three focus group (n = 37) discussions conducted with the help of a community advisory board comprised San Francisco Bay Area Muslim community members. Four main themes were generated. (1) Participants stated that Muslim American families play a unique role, via socioreligious norms and cultural expectations, in mental health quality and help-seeking. (2) The types of familial mental wellness support depend on the capacity of family members relative to their roles and influence in the family. (3) Families are responsible for referring individuals to external support, especially when the problem is beyond familial capacity. (4) The family is a potential source of mental health-related challenges. Participants noted the need for family-wide interventions led by mental health professionals or religious/community leaders. These findings stress the need for increased attention to and engagement of families in providing psychiatric care for Muslim Americans, specifically those living in the Bay Area, California, United States. Special attention should be placed on mental health barriers and challenges the family may create for an individual.
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BRIEF REPORT
The Family’s Role in Mental Health Care:
Perceptions of Bay Area Muslims
Aminah McBryde-Redzovic
1
, Iman Mahoui
2
, Fairuziana Humam
3
, Leena Raza
4
, Heba Abolaban
5
,
Salwa Barhumi
5
, and Rania Awaad
5
1
Division of Community Health Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago
2
School of Medicine, University of Rochester
3
School of Education and Human Development, University of Miami
4
William Beaumont School of Medicine, Oakland University
5
Stanford Muslim Mental Health and Islamic Psychology Lab, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences,
Stanford University School of Medicine
This qualitative study examines perceptions of Muslims living in the San Francisco Bay Area, California,
United States, regarding the family’s role in mental health help-seeking and well-being. This study
employed a community-based participatory research approach through content analysis of three focus group
(n=37) discussions conducted with the help of a community advisory board comprised San Francisco Bay
Area Muslim community members. Four main themes were generated. (1) Participants stated that Muslim
American families play a unique role, via socioreligious norms and cultural expectations, in mental health
quality and help-seeking. (2) The types of familial mental wellness support depend on the capacity of family
members relative to their roles and influence in the family. (3) Families are responsible for referring
individuals to external support, especially when the problem is beyond familial capacity. (4) The family is
a potential source of mental health-related challenges. Participants noted the need for family-wide
interventions led by mental health professionals or religious/community leaders. These findings stress the
need for increased attention to and engagement of families in providing psychiatric care for Muslim
Americans, specifically those living in the Bay Area, California, United States. Special attention should be
placed on mental health barriers and challenges the family may create for an individual.
Keywords: Muslim mental health, help-seeking, family, community-based participatory research
Based on the socioecological theory, the family is a person’s
closest interpersonal unit (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) and can play a
significant, positive or negative, role in physical and mental health
(Thomas et al., 2017). Studies suggest a link between seeking
mental health services and social learning, such that the behavior of
individuals is impacted by the actions, attitudes, and norms of their
families (Thériault & Colman, 2017). Studies show that religiosity
and family play key roles in mental health outcomes for Muslims
(Alghafli et al., 2014;Essig et al., 2018;Hatch et al., 2017).
However, work is needed to understand the nuanced effects
of family dynamics and sociocultural conditions on mental health
help-seeking (Alghafli et al., 2014;Hatch et al., 2017;Weatherhead
& Daiches, 2015). This qualitative study aims to address that gap by
focusing on the Muslim American population in California’s Bay
Area, using vignettes to gather data regarding mental health help-
seeking.
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
This article was published Online First January 23, 2025.
Rachel H. Farr served as action editor.
Aminah McBryde-Redzovic https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2953-4092
Iman Mahoui https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3621-5006
Fairuziana Humam https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9733-4549
Salwa Barhumi https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4320-7576
Rania Awaad https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6277-3741
The authors have no known conflicts of interest to disclose. This work was
supported by Stanford University.
Aminah McBryde-Redzovic played a lead role in formal analysis, writing–
original draft, and writing–review and editing and an equal role in
conceptualization. Iman Mahoui playedasupportingroleinformalanalysis
and an equal role in conceptualization, writing–original draft, and writing–review
and editing. Fairuziana Humam played an equal role in conceptualization,
methodology, and writing–original draft. Leena Raza played a supporting role in
conceptualization and methodology and an equal role in writing–original draft.
Heba Abolaban played a supporting role in conceptualization and writing–original
draft and an equal role in supervision. Salwa Barhumi played a supporting role in
conceptualization and writing–original draft. Rania Awaad played a lead role
in funding acquisition, resources, and supervision and a supporting role in
conceptualization, writing–original draft, and writing–review and editing.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Rania
Awaad, Stanford Muslim Mental Health and Islamic Psychology Lab,
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University
School of Medicine, Psychiatry Building, 401 Quarry Road, Palo Alto, CA
94304, United States. Email: rawaad@stanford.edu
Journal of Family Psychology
© 2025 American Psychological Association 2025, Vol. 39, No. 3, 400–406
ISSN: 0893-3200 https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0001298
400
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any citations for this publication.
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