Professional Help-seeking Attitudes Research Articles

The relationship between body image, eating disorders risk, and the professional help-seeking attitudes of college students in Vietnam

This study investigates the relationship between body image, eating disorder risk, and the professional help-seeking attitudes of college students in Vietnam. We conducted a study with 232 college students (166 females and 66 males). The Attitudes Towards Professional Help-Seeking (ATSPPH), the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), and the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) served as the foundation for the questionnaire. In order to evaluate this research, the PLS-SEM approach was utilized. The results demonstrate that (i) body image, in particular, has a strong and positive link with eating disorder risk; (ii) professional help-seeking attitudes are strongly correlated with body image; (iii) there is a positive correlation between eating disorder risk and professional help-seeking attitudes; and (iv) eating disorder risk will mediate the relationship between body image and professional help-seeking attitudes. This article highlights a relationship between body image preoccupation and professional help-seeking attitudes through mediated eating disorder risk. It is necessary to identify individuals at risk of eating disorders and then consider and devise appropriate strategies to overcome or minimize binge eating or frequent or planned skipping meals; early intervention will reduce the risk of developing an eating disorder. The paper’s rationale helps raise awareness about the negative effects of body image concerns, the risk of eating disorders, and more. The paper also highlights the professional help-seeking attitudes of Vietnamese youth.

Professional Help-Seeking Attitudes Among College Students: The Role of ACEs, Resilience, and Mental Health

ABSTRACT Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are associated with poorer physical and mental health outcomes, which have been shown to negatively impact resilience. The prevalence of mental health diagnoses among college students is increasing in frequency and severity. Further, research shows that college students often have unmet mental health needs and underutilize professional help for mental health disorders. The purpose of this study was to better understand the relationship between ACES, resilience, mental health diagnosis, mental health treatment, and attitudes toward help-seeking. Specifically, we wanted to understand what contributes to college students seeking professional help. Nine hundred and forty-one college students from a large Southwest university completed a series of measures via a Qualtrics link. There was a significant relationship between ACE scores and previous/current mental health diagnosis (p = .001) and between ACE scores and previous/current psychological treatment (p = .001). When considering all factors together, a four-way ANOVA indicated the overall model was significant, but only current/recent mental health treatment had a significant effect on attitude toward seeking professional help (p=.001). ACEs, resiliency, and mental health diagnosis did not impact attitudes toward seeking help. This study adds to the growing body of literature on understanding what contributes to college students seeking help.

Gratitude, parental support, professional help-seeking attitudes for mental health problems among adolescents

ABSTRACT The current study aims to examine the relationship between gratitude and parental support through the mediation of perceived stress and the influence of parental support on adolescent professional help-seeking for mental health problems. 1987 participants completed the survey, including 41.4% boys and 58.6% girls aged 11–15 years. The findings indicated that (i) parental support mediated the relationship between perceived stress and professional psychological help-seeking attitudes; (ii) perceived stress mediated the effect of gratitude on parental support; (iii) gratitude predicted professional psychological help-seeking attitudes through perceived stress and parental support; and (iv) gratitude predicted positively adolescents’ academic achievement. The study highlights the potential influence of parental support on adolescents’ professional help-seeking attitudes. Mental health services should be developed to be more accessible to adolescents to facilitate more independent help-seeking. Prevention and intervention programmes for adolescents may be more effective at decreasing stress symptoms by combining gratitude interventions.

성인 계층의 정서표현 양가성이 전문적 도움추구 태도와 의도에 미치는 영향: 자기은폐와 심리적 불편감의 구조적 관계 검증

This study sought to verify the structural relationship between Self-Concealment and Psychological Distress in the impact of adult Ambivalence over Emotional Expressiveness on Professional Help-Seeking Attitudes and Intentions. This is significant in that it reveals the individual's psychological factors that affect Professional Help-Seeking and suggests a practical approach. For this study, data were collected from 472 adults aged 18 or older. Research results: First, Ambivalence over Emotional Expressiveness had a positive effect on Professional Help-Seeking intentions by mediating psychological Distress, but it also had a negative effect on the mediating variable, Professional Help-Seeking Attitudes, which also lowered Professional Help-Seeking Intentions. Second, all paths involving Professional Help-Seeking Attitudes had a negative effect on Professional Help-Seeking Intentions. Third, Self-Concealment was found to have a positive effect on the Professional Help-Seeking Intentions even though it was an avoidance factor, and Psychological Distress was found to have a negative effect on the Professional Help-Seeking Intentions even though it was an approach factor. Finally, limitations of this study and follow-up research were discussed.

The Relationship between Ageism and Professional Help-Seeking Attitudes in the elderly: The Mediating Effects of Social-Stigma and Self-Stigma

본 연구는 노인들의 연령주의가 전문적 심리상담 도움추구태도에 미치는 영향에서 사회적 낙인과 자기 낙인의 이중매개효과를 확인하기 위해 실시하였다. 이를 위해 노인의 연령주의, 사회적 낙인, 자기 낙인, 전문적 심리상담 도움추구태도를 측정하는 자기보고식 척도를 사용하여 노인 300명의 자료를 수집하였고, SPSS와 PROCESS Macro를 통해 분석하였다. 주요 연구결과로는 첫째, 연령주의, 전문적 도움추구태도, 사회적 낙인, 자기 낙인의 상관관계를 분석한 결과 유의한 상관관계가 나타났다. 둘째, 연령주의는 전문적 도움추구태도에 직접적인 영향을 미치지 않았으며, 연령주의와 전문적 도움추구태도의 관계에서 사회적 낙인과 자기 낙인은 각각 완전매개효과를 나타냈다. 셋째, 연령주의와 전문적 도움추구태도 관계에서 사회적 낙인과 자기 낙인의 이중매개효과를 확인한 결과, 사회적 낙인과 자기 낙인을 순차적으로 거쳐 전문적 도움추구태도에 간접적으로 영향을 미쳐 이중 매개 효과가 있는 것으로 나타났다. 이러한 결과를 토대로 본 연구의 제한점과 후속 연구에 대한 제언을 제시하였다.

The association between stigmatizing attitudes towards depression and help seeking attitudes in college students.

Depression stigma has been considered a significant barrier to treatment and rehabilitation. This study aimed to understand the effects of gender, previous mental health care, and symptomatology on depression stigma and analyze the impact of depression stigma on help-seeking attitudes. A total of 969 students with a mean age of 18.87 (SD = 1.49) were included in this study and completed the Depression Stigma Scale, the Attitude Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help, the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 questionnaire, and a socio-demographic questionnaire. We analyzed data using SPSS 24.0, with a 95% confidence interval. Participants came from all University schools, and 64.6% were women. Personal stigma and help-seeking attitudes were affected by gender (β(male) = 5.65, CI = 4.07, 7.25) and previous access to mental healthcare services (β(previous help) = -4.35, CI = -5.89, -2.82). Perceived depression stigma was affected gender (β(male) = -2.67, CI = -5.00, -0.34) and symptomatology (β(no symptomatology) = -3.29, CI = -6.09, -0.49). Personal (r = -0.42, p<0.01) and perceived (r = 0.10, p<0.01) depression stigma correlated with help-seeking attitudes, but we detected no direct symptomatology effect on help-seeking attitudes. Personal depression stigma significantly affected help-seeking attitudes (β = -0.15, CI = -0.17, -0.12). Promoting literacy may decrease personal depression stigma and increase professional help-seeking attitudes and behaviors.

The Influence of COVID-19 Stress and Self-Concealment on Professional Help-Seeking Attitudes: A Cross-Sectional Study of University Students.

PurposeThe fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically influenced many aspects of individuals’ lives, putting the general population’s mental health at high risk, especially university students in Vietnam. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between current living status and COVID-19 stress and test whether COVID-19 stress mediates the effect of self-concealment on help-seeking attitudes among university students.Patients and MethodsA sample of 478 university students was recruited online to complete the survey. Parametric tests, correlation, regression, and simple mediation analyses were used to analyze the data.ResultsOur results show that students living alone experience more COVID-19 stress levels than those living with family or friends. Additionally, there is a significant positive association between self-concealment and professional help-seeking attitudes that is partially mediated by COVID-19 stress. Individuals who tend to conceal personal information have high COVID-19 stress levels, leading to positive professional help-seeking attitudes.ConclusionUniversity administrators, social workers, counselors, clinicians, and therapists must consider students living alone as prioritized vulnerable groups for early mental health interventions. Clinicians should be aware of self-concealment and professional help-seeking attitudes that could influence psychological treatment.

Mental health stigma and professional help-seeking attitudes a comparison between Cuba and Germany.

Globally the burden due to mental disorders is continuously increasing. Still, professional help-seeking behavior is not fully understood. To conceive cultural determinants of help-seeking is crucial to reduce personal and social costs of (untreated) mental disorders. The current study investigates mental health stigma and help-seeking attitudes in a Cuban (n = 195) and a German (n = 165) sample. In a questionnaire survey we asked for attitudes towards mental illness and professional help-seeking in the general Cuban and German populations. The cultural context was associated with mental health stigma and professional help-seeking attitudes. Interestingly, Cuban participants reported stronger mental health stigma and more willingness to seek help. In multiple hierarchical regression analyses, community attitudes towards the mentally ill significantly predicted help-seeking attitudes, especially in the Cuban sample. Only in the German sample, more negative individual beliefs about mental illness predicted more self-stigma on help-seeking. Beyond that, cultural context moderated the association between mental health stigma and help-seeking attitudes with a stronger association between the measures in the German sample. However, gender did not predict help-seeking attitudes and self-stigma on help-seeking and no interactions between community attitudes, cultural context, and gender were found in the prediction of help-seeking attitudes. Similarities and differences between the samples are discussed in the light of the cultural contexts and peculiarities of the current samples. Concluding, implications of the current findings are reviewed.

Help-seeking attitudes and intentions for generalised anxiety disorder in adolescents: the role of anxiety literacy and stigma.

Help seeking for anxiety tends to be low in adolescents. Identifying modifiable factors that may facilitate help seeking is important. The aim of the current study is to test the effects of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) literacy and stigma (personal and perceived) on attitudes and intentions toward seeking help from professionals and key adult sources. 1767 adolescents aged 12-18years participated in the current study and completed measures of GAD literacy, GAD stigma, professional help-seeking attitudes, and intentions to seek help from a range of sources. The results of the study found that participants had limited GAD literacy and up to 20% personally agreed with stigmatising statements about GAD. Participants reported greater intentions to seek help from parents than from formal sources. More positive attitudes toward seeking help were associated with higher levels of GAD literacy (p < 0.001) and lower personal GAD stigma (p < 0.001). Lower perceived GAD stigma was associated with increased intentions to seek help from their mothers (p < 0.05) or fathers (p < 0.01), while lower personal GAD stigma was also associated with help-seeking intentions from their mothers (p < 0.05). Higher perceived GAD stigma was associated with intentions to seek help from nobody (p < 0.001). Overall, the current study highlights the important role that parents can play in the help-seeking process for adolescents, with parents often the most accessible source of help. Improving parent and adolescent knowledge and attitudes towards GAD may help to improve early help seeking in young people.

Empirical study on the influence of flipped classroom teaching mode on college students' professional help-seeking attitudes

Objective To explore the influence of flipped classroom teaching mode on college students' attitudes towards psychological help-seeking. Methods The small private online course and experiential teaching method were combined to teach the course of mental health. Before and after the course, the Attitudes toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale (Hao Zhihong 2007 Revision) and the Self-Stigma of Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale (Vogel et al.) were used to measure the professional help-seeking attitudes and self-stigma of 258 randomly selected subjects. SPSS 22.0 and paired sample t-test were used and related data were analyzed. Results A total of 242 valid scales were collected. The teaching mode of flipped classroom reduced self-stigma (t=2.067, P=0.040) and increased the willingness of professional psychological help-seeking among students (t=2.483, P=0.015). Before the course, there was no significant difference between the high-input group and the low-input group in the attitudes of help-seeking (t=0.515, P=0.607) and self-stigma (t=0.432, P=0.666). After the course, the scores of help-seeking attitudes in the high-input group were significantly higher than those in the low-input group (t=2.401, P=0.018), and the self-stigma scores in high-input group were significantly lower than those in low-input group (t=2.185, P=0.031). Conclusion The teaching mode of flipped classroom helps to reduce self-stigma evaluation and forms a more positive attitude towards seeking help. Attitudes changed significantly in those students who have higher commitment in knowledge learning, self-expression and self-reflection. Key words: Mental health; Flipped Classroom; Professional help-seeking attitude; Self-stigma; Course involvement

Stigma, Loss of Face, and Help-Seeking Attitudes Among South Korean College Students

In this study, we investigated empirical associations between others’ stigma regarding seeking psychological help (predictor), self-stigma regarding seeking help (mediator), loss of face concerns (moderator), and professional help-seeking attitudes (outcome) among 485 South Korean college students. We also explored the dimensionality of close others’ stigma and public stigma using a bifactor analysis. We recruited participants from several universities in South Korea. They completed an online survey containing demographic questions and study measures. Bifactor analysis results indicated that close others’ stigma and public stigma may be better treated as a unidimensional construct (i.e., others’ stigma). Mediation and moderated mediation analyses indicated that others’ stigma predicted self-stigma, which in turn predicted help-seeking attitudes. Furthermore, this mediation model was moderated by loss of face, in that as loss of face increased, the negative indirect effect of others’ stigma on help-seeking attitudes through self-stigma became weaker. We discuss implications for research and practice.

Emotional self-control, interpersonal shame, and racism as predictors of help-seeking attitudes among Asian Americans: An application of the intrapersonal–interpersonal-sociocultural framework.

The present study is a cross-sectional investigation of emotional self-control, interpersonal shame, and subtle racism as predictors of Asian American attitudes toward professional helpseeking in a sample of Asian American college students (N = 153). The authors applied and extended P. Y. Kim and Lee’s (2014) intrapersonal-interpersonal framework of Asian American help-seeking to include racism as a sociocultural correlate. It was hypothesized that emotional self-control (intrapersonal correlate), interpersonal shame variables of external shame and family shame (interpersonal correlates), and racism (sociocultural correlate) would incrementally predict professional help-seeking attitudes, controlling for previous counseling experience. Participants completed an online survey containing the demographic and study variables. Hierarchical regression analyses (Step 1: counseling experience; Step 2: emotional self-control; Step 3: interpersonal shame [external and family]; Step 4: racism) indicated that emotional selfcontrol and racism were negative predictors of favorable attitudes, whereas external shame was a positive predictor of favorable help-seeking attitudes. The findings have implications for advancing the Asian American literature pertaining to professional help-seeking correlates and for practitioners working with Asian American students to favorably impact mental health service utilization.

The Distress Disclosure Index: A research review and multitrait–multimethod examination.

The Distress Disclosure Index (DDI; J. H. Kahn & R. M. Hessling, 2001) is a brief self-report measure of one's tendency to disclose personally distressing information. The purpose of this article was to summarize what is known about the DDI, present new validity evidence, and make recommendations for use of the DDI. This article reviews research on the DDI from the past decade that indicates that distress disclosure is associated with well-being, professional help-seeking attitudes and intentions, and success in brief psychotherapy. On the basis of the reviewed literature, the authors report a reliability generalization study of DDI scores that strongly supports the internal consistency and test-retest reliability of DDI scores, and they review criterion-related and construct validity evidence. Next, the authors present a new multitrait-multimethod validity study of the DDI. Participants (N = 153) and peer informants (N = 153)--one per participant--completed paper-and-pencil questionnaire packets. Convergent validity of self-reported DDI scores was supported by a strong association with self-reports of emotional self-disclosure in response to a specific, unpleasant event, and self- and peer reports on the DDI were moderately correlated. DDI scores were not strongly associated with cognitive reappraisal and ambivalence over emotional expression, thus supporting discriminant validity. DDI scores were strongly associated with expressive suppression, and correlations between DDI scores and affect, depression symptoms, coping, and emotional expressivity were similar to those found with expressive suppression. The authors offer possible hypotheses explaining the overlap between distress disclosure and expressive suppression and present recommendations for future use of the DDI.

Teaching Abnormal Psychology to Improve Attitudes Toward Mental Illness and Help-seeking

Abnormal psychology instructors often use traditional and personal methods to educate students about and improve student attitudes toward mental illness and professional help-seeking. Data from abnormal psychology students ( N = 190) were used to determine if and how students’ attitudes toward mental illness and professional help-seeking attitudes change over time. The study also examined whether stigma-related variables were influenced by student presentations about personal experiences with mental illness. With few exceptions, stigma-related variables did not change over time or in relation to student presentations. Implications for research and teaching to improve attitudes toward mental illness and professional help-seeking are discussed.

A primary investigation of professional help-seeking attitudes, self-concealment and gender roles of university students

The aim of this study is to investigate the professional help-seeking attitudes of university students from their gender, gender roles, the perspective of socioeconomic level and self concealment. Professional Help-Seeking Attitudes Scale-Short Form, Self-Concealment Scale, Bem Gender Role Inventory, and personal information form have been used as data gathering tools. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics, t-test and one way anova. The results of the study show that professional help-seeking attitudes among female students are more positive than the male students; those in low or middle socioeconomic level has more positive attitudes; those with female gender roles and those with high androgens have more positive attitudes than male and ambiguous gender roles; and the students who have high levels of selfconcealment have negative attitudes toward seeking psychological help.

Adherence to Asian and European American cultural values and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help among Asian American college students.

Possible relations among enculturation and acculturation to cultural values and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help were examined among 146 Asian American college students. In addition, possible relations between various dimensions of Asian values and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help were examined. As hypothesized, the results indicated a significant inverse relation between enculturation to Asian values and professional help-seeking attitudes, above and beyond that of the association with having previous counseling experience. Although bivariate correlational results suggested possible inverse relations between the Asian values dimensions of collectivism, emotional self-control, and humility and professional help-seeking attitudes, these associations were not confirmed with a hierarchical multiple regression model. Contrary to expectation, a significant relation was not observed between values acculturation and professional help-seeking attitudes. Also, the interaction between enculturation and acculturation to cultural values was not significantly predictive of professional help-seeking attitudes.

Taiwanese students' gender, age, interdependent and independent self-construal, and collective self-esteem as predictors of professional psychological help-seeking attitudes.

Taiwanese students' gender, age, interdependent and independent self-construal, and collective self-esteem as predictors of professional psychological help-seeking attitudes.