RT Article T1 Religious leaders’ assessment and attribution of the causes of mental illness: an in-depth exploration of Vietnamese American Buddhist leaders JF Mental health, religion & culture VO 15 IS 5 SP 511 OP 527 A1 Nguyen, Hannah Thuy A2 Yamada, Ann Marie A2 Dinh, Tam Q. LA English YR 2012 UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1838988963 AB Among Asian Americans, particularly within immigrant communities, religious leaders are respected and sought out for support and guidance. There is a need to examine how religious leaders, especially within non-Christian faiths, identify persons and ascribe meaning and attributions to mental health concerns. The aim of this paper was to address this knowledge gap by exploring the perceptions of five Vietnamese American Buddhist leaders in regards to mental illness. Using qualitative analytic techniques we identified appearance, behaviours, and cognitive impairments that leaders interpreted as indicators of a mental health condition. Religious leaders cited messy and overly adorned outer appearance, aggressive and violent behaviours, and abnormal cognitive functioning as indicative of mental health problems. They attributed mental illness to a variety of causes: daily stressors, mind-body imbalance, karma, virtuous deeds, and spiritual possession. Findings inform strategies for faith-based initiatives and mental health service delivery to religiously affiliated Asian Americans. K1 Asian Americans K1 Buddhism K1 Southeast Asia K1 attitudes towards mental illness K1 Faith-based K1 mental health disparities DO 10.1080/13674676.2011.594037