Attitudes Toward Professional Psychological Help Seeking in South Asian Students: Role of Stigma and Gender

This study examined (a) the roles of perceived and personal stigma on attitudes toward professional psychological help seeking and (b) the effects of these constructs across gender in South Asians. Personal stigma and being male was negatively associated with attitudes toward professional psychological help seeking; no difference in the association between personal and perceived stigma and attitudes across genders was found. These findings have implications for the engagement of South Asians in mental health services in the United States. Este estudio examinó (a) los roles de estigmas percibidos y personales en las actitudes hacia la búsqueda de ayuda psicológica profesional y (b) los efectos de estos constructos en indiviuos sudasiáticos según su sexo. El estigma personal y la identidad masculina se asociaron negativamente con las actitudes hacia la búsqueda de ayuda psicológica profesional; no se halló diferencia en la asociación entre estigmas personales y percibidos y las actitudes de los distintos sexos. Estos hallazgos tienen implicaciones para la participación de los individuos sudasiáticos en los servicios de salud mental en Estados Unidos.     

Self‐Stigma,Mental Health Literacy,and Attitudes Toward Seeking Psychological Help

This study examined self‐stigma of seeking psychological help and mental health literacy as predictors of college students’ (N = 1,535) help‐seeking attitudes, with additional attention to psychological and demographic correlates. Results indicated that mental health literacy predicted help‐seeking attitudes above and beyond self‐stigma. Asian American race/ethnicity, male gender, current psychological distress, and help‐seeking history were also significant predictors. Implications for addressing mental health literacy and self‐stigma while attending to demographic and psychological variations in help seeking are discussed.     

An Adaptation and Extension of the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale1

Despite its utility, several conceptual and methodological concerns are raised regarding Fischer and Turner's (1970) Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale (ATSPPHS). These concerns were addressed in an adaptation and extension of the ATSPPHS using 208 adult volunteers. The new Inventory of Attitudes Toward Seeking Mental Health Services (IASMHS) consists of 24 items and 3 internally consistent factors: psychological openness, help‐seeking propensity, and indifference to stigma. We replicated this 3‐factor model with 293 university undergraduates, and established test‐retest reliability with 23 student volunteers. Validity was demonstrated by the ability of the IASMHS to distinguish between those who had and had not used mental health services in the past, and those who would and would not use these services in the future. It also discriminated between participants’ intentions to use professional and nonprofessional help. Finally, expected gender differences in help‐seeking attitudes were demonstrated.     

Acculturation and Attitudes of Asian International Students Toward Seeking Psychological Help

Relationships between acculturation and attitudes toward psychological help seeking were studied with 170 Asian international students. Results showed a significant relationship between levels of acculturation and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help. Significant correlations were found between students' levels of acculturation and stigma tolerance and confidence in mental health practitioners. La relación entre la aculturación y las actitudes hacia la busqueda de ayuda psicológica se estudió con 170 estudiantes internacionales de orígen asiático. Los resultados demostraron una relación significante entre los niveles de aculturación y las actitudes hacia la solicitación de ayuda psicológica profesional. Correlaciones significantes se encontraron entre los niveles de aculturación y la tolerancia hacia las estigmas de los estudiantes y la confianza que ellos les tienen a los médicos psiquiátricos.     

Asian and European American Cultural Values,Bicultural Competence,and Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Among Asian American Adolescents

The authors examined the extent to which Asian American adolescents who were living in Hawaii adhered to Asian and European American cultural values in relation to mental health variables including collective self‐esteem (membership, private, public, importance to identity), cognitive flexibility, general self‐efficacy, and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help. Results and implications for counselors are discussed. Los autores examinaron hasta qué medida los adolescentes Asiaticoamericanos residentes en Hawai se adhieren a los valores culturales Asiáticos y Euroamericanos en relación a ciertas variables de salud mental que incluyen la autoestima colectiva (pertenencia, privada, pública, su importancia para la identidad), flexibilidad cognitiva, autoeficacia general y actitudes hacia la búsqueda de ayuda psicológica profesional. Se discuten los resultados y las implicaciones para los consejeros.     

The Role of Attachment and Stigma in the Relationship Between Stress and Attitudes Toward Counseling in South Korea

Using structural equation modeling, the authors investigated the mediators between stress and attitudes toward seeking professional help among 298 undergraduate students in South Korea. Results indicated that attachment styles (avoidance and anxiety) and stigma (public and self‐stigma) mediated the relationship between stress and attitudes toward seeking help. Furthermore, public and self‐stigma had different paths depending on attachment styles related to help seeking. Regarding previous counseling experience, differences in the relationships between stress, attachment styles, stigma, and attitudes toward seeking help were evident.     

Attitudes Toward Immigration: The Role of Personal Predispositions

This article examines if deep‐seated psychological differences add to the explanation of attitudes toward immigration. We explore whether the Big Five personality traits matter for immigration attitudes beyond the traditional situational factors of economic and cultural threat and analyze how individuals with different personalities react when confronted with the same situational triggers. Using a Danish survey experiment, we show that different personality traits have different effects on opposition toward immigration. We find that Openness has an unconditional effect on attitudes toward immigration: scoring higher on this trait implies a greater willingness to admit immigrants. Moreover, individuals react differently to economic threat depending on their score on the traits Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. Specifically, individuals scoring low on Agreeableness and individuals scoring high on Conscientiousness are more sensitive to the skill level of immigrants. The results imply that personality is important for attitudes toward immigration, and in the conclusion, we further discuss how the observed conditional and unconditional effects of personality make sense theoretically.     

Family Matters: The Role of Mental Health Stigma and Social Support on Depressive Symptoms and Subsequent Help Seeking Among African American Boys

African American adolescent boys underutilize mental health service due to stigma associated with depression. Gaining an increased understanding of how depressed, African American adolescent boys perceive their mental health needs and engage in help-seeking behaviors might play an essential role in efforts to improve their symptoms and access to care. Using a mixed-methods design, this study examined the influence of mental health stigma and social support on depressive symptoms among African American adolescent boys. Findings indicated the protective effects of social support in decreasing depressive symptoms, especially when participants experienced mental health stigma. Results also revealed the pivotal role of family social support over both professional and peer support for participants who struggled with depressive symptoms. The primacy of family support among the sample, combined with the frequent distrust of professionals and peer networks, would indicate that working with families may improve initial identification of depression among African American adolescent boys and decrease their barriers to care.     

Self‐Stigma of Mental Illness and Help Seeking Among School Counselors

The authors reported the findings from a correlational investigation examining the relationship between school counselors' (N = 333) self‐stigma of mental illness, help‐seeking behaviors, burnout, stress, and life satisfaction. The authors used a path analysis to test a hypothesized causal framework that self‐stigma of mental illness contributed to help‐seeking behaviors, which contributed to stress and burnout. The findings showed that the data fit the hypothesized model. The authors discuss the implications of the findings.     

Help Seeking: Effects of Visibility of Task Performance and Seeking Help

This study manipulated independently whether help seeking and task performance were public or private, since in public settings persons may lose esteem by seeking help or by demonstrating unsuccessful performance. Subjects were given false feedback that they were doing poorly on a task involving judging levels of neuroticism in others, and were given all opportunity to seek help by consulting a set of guidelines. The main result was an interaction with help seeking most likely when task performance was public and help seeking was private.     

Attitudes Toward Divorce: Embeddedness and Outcomes in Personal Relationships

Divorce attitudes, attitude embeddedness, parental marital status and conflict, and personal relationship outcomes were examined in a sample of 289 undergraduate students. Results indicated that highly embedded divorce attitudes were more predictive of evaluations of divorce issues and relationship scenarios than were less embedded attitudes. Consistent with findings that divorce attitudes influence personal relationships ( Amato & DeBoer, 2001 ), participants with embedded divorce attitudes reported greater conflict and influence of relationship partners. Recollections of high parental conflict were associated with greater relationship conflict; and individuals from high-conflict intact families reported greater relationship closeness, conflict, and embedded divorce attitudes. Consequences of parental divorce and conflict for offspring divorce attitudes are discussed, as well as future research on divorce attitudes and their strength.     

Promoting Favorable Attitudes Toward Personnel Surveys: The Role of Follow-Up

Periodic command climate assessments and other such surveys are typical in most military organizations. In today's era of dwindling response rates, empirical guidance is needed for leaders and practitioners attempting to understand the factors that affect personnel's attitudes toward surveys and their intentions to complete recurrent questionnaires. The present study addressed this problem by assessing 236 military and civilian workers' reactions to a recurring command climate survey. As hypothesized, personnel who witnessed data feedback, problem identification, and survey-based action after the administration of the survey were particularly inclined to deem the survey useful. Moreover, personnel considered action more important than feedback when evaluating the survey's utility. By shaping perceptions of survey usefulness, awareness of follow-up actions impacted intentions to complete future questionnaires. Overall, the results of this study document the importance of visible, post-survey actions and highlight the repercussions of failing to adequately communicate survey-based change initiatives to the workforce.     

The Eating Attitudes Test: development of an adapted language form for children

The purpose of this study was to determine the comparability of scores generated by two forms of the Eating Attitudes Test, the original form for adults and an adapted language form for children. Analysis of data indicated that the adapted language form of the test can be used effectively.     

Fears about Seeking Therapeutic Help: The Effect of Sex of Subject, Sex of Professional, and Title of Professional

96 subjects were asked to imagine that they had gone to their GP for help with an emotional problem. The subjects were further asked to imagine that the GP had referred them to either a male or female counsellor, clinical psychologist or psychiatrist. Whilst in role, subjects were asked to rate their concern about 15 possible fears of therapy, and to indicate their preference for a male or female therapist. There was little support for the hypothesis that female subjects would have lower fear ratings than male subjects. Equivocal support was found for the hypothesis that there would be an overall preference for female therapists. Results partially supported the hypothesis that fear ratings would be highest with respect to psychiatrists; the interaction of the sex of subject and the title of professional variables indicated that this was particularly so when the psychiatrist was female. The implications for counselling are briefly discussed, with regard to preparing clients for therapy.     

Suicidal Ideation and Eating Disorder Symptoms in Adolescents: The Role of Interoceptive Deficits

Eating disorder symptoms and suicidal ideation are relatively common, and often begin to emerge in adolescence. Interoceptive deficits, or the inability to perceive and accurately identify the physiological condition of the body, is an established risk factor for both eating disorders and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Despite this, longitudinal research examining the temporal dynamics between these variables is scarce, especially within adolescent samples. Using a three-wave longitudinal design, the present study tested bidirectional relationships between interoceptive deficits, eating disorder symptoms, and suicidal ideation to examine whether interoceptive deficits predicted eating disorder symptoms and suicidal ideation over the course of a year among a sample of adolescents. Participants were 436 community adolescents recruited from local middle- and high-schools. Data were collected at baseline, 6-month follow-up, and 12-month follow-up. Study measures assessed current suicidal ideation, eating disorder symptom severity, and interoceptive deficits. Autoregressive cross-lagged modeling was conducted in MPlus. We found baseline eating disorder symptoms significantly predicted suicidal ideation at 6-month follow-up when controlling for baseline suicidal ideation. Baseline interoceptive deficits significantly predicted eating disorder symptoms 6-months later, while 6-month follow-up interoceptive deficits significantly predicted 12-month follow-up suicidal ideation. Our findings highlight the need for early and regular assessment of suicidal ideation and eating disorder symptoms in adolescents. Given that interoceptive deficits was a shared risk factor for both conditions within this sample, these results underscore the need for targeted interventions aimed at improving interoception.     

College Students' Attitudes Toward Mental Illness: An Examination of the Stigma Process1

Undergraduate students (96 female, 72 male) read 3 scenarios depicting either male or female characters with symptoms of depression, alcohol abuse, and common stress. Participants then completed measures assessing their attitudes about the character in the scenarios, as well as their level of social dominance orientation, empathy, adherence to traditional gender roles, and familiarity with mental illness. As predicted, participants who labeled the target mentally ill were more likely to view the target as dangerous. This, in turn, led to an increased desire for social distance. In contrast, empathy, although associated with increased likelihood of labeling, was associated with decreased desire for social distance. Implications of the results for reducing the social stigma of mental illness are discussed.     

The Effect of the Physical Attractiveness and Role of the Helper on Help Seeking

The effects of a helper's physical attractiveness and role on help-seeking behavior were investigated here. Eighty randomly selected Smith College students were the subjects; the helpers were two confederates selected on the basis of a separately conducted photograph evaluation. The confederate was designated either as an experimenter (Role condition) or as a fellow subject (Nonrole condition). Subjects were reluctant to ask the attractive confederate for help when she was in the Nonrole condition; rather, most in this condition asked for information instead of assistance. When the confederate was unattractive, more subjects asked for help when she was in role than when she was not. Although there was a significant main effect, most of this effect appears to be accounted for by the low rate of seeking help in the Attractive, nonrole condition. Subjects took longer to communicate with the attractive confederate than with the unattractive one; further, they reported feeling more uncomfortable in the presence of the attractive helper regardless of role.     

College Students' Attitudes Toward Abortion: The Role of Knowledge and Demographic Variables1

The present study sought to determine the role that knowledge of abortion information and various demographic variables play in discriminating between those who approve and those who disapprove of abortion. Four hundred and fifty-four college students completed the Abortion Knowledge Test, constructed by the researchers, as well as an abortion attitudes questionnaire which asked subjects to indicate their degree of approval or disapproval of abortion in the case of 7 different scenarios. Attitudes toward abortion were significantly predicted by knowledge of abortion-related information above and beyond the significant influence of degree of religiosity, religion, and age. No significant gender differences were found. Respondents who indicated approval of abortion scored significantly higher on the Abortion Knowledge Test and tended to be older, less religious, and non-Catholic compared to those who disapproved of abortion.     

Intrinsic And Extrinsic Motivation and Attitudes Toward Professional Continuing Education: Implications for the Counselor

The purpose of this study was to investigate intrinsic and extrinsic motivation of individuals enrolled in a continuing education program. The types of couseling strategies and programs to help workers increase their self-confidence are discussed.