Currently submitted to: Asian/Pacific Island Nursing Journal
Date Submitted: Aug 31, 2026
Open Peer Review Period: Sep 15, 2026 - Nov 10, 2026
(currently open for review)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Evaluation of a Psychoeducational Program to Reduce Depression Stigma Among Korean American Family Members, Caregivers, and Friends
ABSTRACT
Background:
Depression is highly prevalent among Korean Americans, yet mental health service use remains low, with stigma consistently identified as a key barrier. Family members, friends, and other social network members shape attitudes toward depression and help-seeking, but culturally tailored interventions targeting these groups are limited.
Objective:
The aim of this program evaluation was to assess a single-session, culturally tailored Korean-language psychoeducational intervention for reducing depression stigma among Korean American caregivers, family members, and friends of individuals with depression.
Methods:
In this pre-post evaluation, Korean American adults aged 18 years and older who self-identified as caregivers, family members, or friends of someone with depression were recruited through a Korean church in Southern California. The 90-minute session, delivered across 4 cohorts (2 in-person, 2 virtual), included education about depression and culturally relevant misconceptions, supportive communication skills training, and facilitated small-group discussion. Depression stigma was assessed one week before and immediately after the intervention using the Depression Stigma Scale (DSS) personal and perceived stigma subscales. Pre-post changes were analyzed using paired t tests.
Results:
Of 32 attendees, 30 completed the personal stigma subscale and 31 completed the perceived stigma subscale at both pre- and post-intervention. Personal stigma decreased from a mean of 13.6 (SD, 6.1) to 7.0 (SD, 5.1); mean difference, 6.6 (SD, 4.4); P<.001; Cohen d=1.5. Perceived stigma decreased from 20.5 (SD, 6.1) to 17.3 (SD, 7.8); mean difference, 3.2 (SD, 6.6); P=.012; Cohen d=0.5. In exploratory analyses, participants attending virtual sessions demonstrated greater reductions in both personal and perceived stigma than those attending in-person sessions.
Conclusions:
A brief, culturally tailored psychoeducational intervention delivered in partnership with a trusted community setting was associated with reductions in personal and perceived depression stigma among Korean American social network members. Evaluations with larger groups, comparison conditions, and longer follow-up are needed to draw conclusions about effectiveness and durability. Clinical Trial: not applicable
Citation
Request queued. Please wait while the file is being generated. It may take some time.
Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.