The mediating roles of anticipated risks, anticipated benefits, and attitudes on the decision to seek professional help: An attachment perspective.

This study examined the mediating effects of anticipated risks, benefits, and attitudes toward seeking counseling on the link between adult attachment and help-seeking intentions for psychological and interpersonal concerns in a sample of 821 undergraduates. The structural equation modeling results indicated that the link between higher attachment avoidance and less intent to seek help was mediated by lower anticipated benefits, higher anticipated risks, and less positive attitudes toward seeking help. Conversely, the link between higher attachment anxiety and greater intent to seek help was mediated by higher anticipated benefits and risks and more positive attitudes toward seeking help. Thus, attachment contributed to perceptions of the benefits and risks of counseling, which, in turn, influenced help-seeking attitudes and, eventually, help-seeking intentions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relation of depression and help-seeking history to attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help.

We investigated the relation of help-seeking history, sex, and depression to college students' attitudes, beliefs, and intentions about obtaining professional psychological help. College students completed questionnaires that included the Beck Depression Inventory (Beck, Ward, Mendelson, Mock, & Erbaugh, 1961), an inquiry about help-seeking history, and an attitude scale constructed according to the method posited in the theory of reasoned action (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980). Of these 429, 126 who represented extremes of the depression continuum were selected as subjects for data analyses. Though sex differences were not found, results indicated that the experience of having sought help is positively related to how one feels about seeking help and that the experience of depression, regardless of help-seeking history, is also related to more positive attitudes, beliefs, and intentions. Implications for educative interventions are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Asian international students' intentions to seek counseling: Integrating cognitive and cultural predictors.

This study integrated several cognitive and cultural predictors of Asian international students' intentions to seek counseling. Data from 295 Asian international students were used to determine whether help-seeking intentions could be predicted by a combination of cognitive variables (i.e., counseling attitudes and stigma concerns) and cultural factors (i.e., acculturation, Asian values, and loss-of-face concerns). Data supported a partially mediated model, such that participants who endorsed more traditional Asian values reported less positive counseling attitudes and lower help-seeking intentions. Contrary to expectations, however, loss-of-face and stigma concerns were associated with stronger intentions to seek counseling, which may have been due to participants' fears of sharing psychological problems with significant others and preference for the confidential nature of the counseling relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Male role and gender role conflict: Relations to help seeking in men.

Tested theory that adherence to the traditional male gender role and help-seeking attitudes and behaviors are related. Ss were 401 undergraduate men who completed measures of help-seeking attitudes and behaviors, attitudes toward the stereotypic male role, and gender role conflict factors (i.e., success/power/competition, restrictive emotionality, and restrictive affectionate behavior between men). Canonical analysis and regression indicated that traditional attitudes about the male role, concern about expressing emotions, and concern about expressing affection toward other men were each significantly related to negative attitudes toward seeking professional psychological assistance. Restrictive emotionality also significantly predicted decreased past help-seeking behavior and decreased likelihood of future help seeking. The implications of these results for theory, research, and counseling practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Should I ask for help?" The role of motivation and attitudes in adolescents' help seeking in math class.

The present study investigated motivational influences on help-seeking behavior in math classrooms, focusing on early adolescents' perceptions of the benefits and threats associated with such behavior. Seventh and 8th graders (N?=?203) responded to a questionnaire on perceptions of social and cognitive competence, achievement goals, attitudes, and avoidance of and adaptive help-seeking behavior in math class. Both threats and benefits were important influences on avoidance of help-seeking behavior, whereas only benefits predicted adaptive help seeking. Findings indicated that perceived threats and benefits partially mediated the effects of relative ability goals, task-focused goals, extrinsic goals, and perceptions of cognitive competence on avoidance of help seeking. Perceived benefits partially mediated the effects of task-focused goals on adaptive help seeking. Social competence had an indirect effect on avoidance of help seeking. Results illustrate the importance of linking cognitive, motivational, and social characteristics of students to provide a fuller understanding of adolescent help seeking in math. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of the Attitudes Toward Career Counseling Scale.

This article reports on 5 studies that addressed the development and validation of a measure of attitudes toward career counseling. Factor analyses of the Attitudes Toward Career Counseling Scale (ATCCS) yielded 2 factors that measured perceived value and stigma related to career counseling. Internal consistency estimates and test–retest reliability estimates across studies were moderate to high. As evidence of convergent validity, the Value and Stigma scales correlated in the expected directions with general help-seeking attitudes, decision-making styles, satisfaction with a career exploration course, and intentions of seeking help for different psychological problems including career counseling. A discussion of how this scale adds to the help-seeking literature and suggestions for future research are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cultural mistrust and mental health help-seeking attitudes among Filipino Americans.

As low as the rate of mental health help-seeking is among Asian Americans, Filipino Americans seek mental health services at a much lower rate even compared with other Asian Americans. Despite the field’s progress in identifying and understanding factors that may influence mental health help-seeking attitudes among Asian Americans, despite research on other minority groups suggesting that cultural mistrust may influence attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help, and despite the abundance of literature documenting the historical and contemporary experiences of oppression by Filipino Americans, the possibility that cultural mistrust may play a significant role in Filipino Americans’ mental health help-seeking attitudes have yet to be empirically investigated. Thus, using a sample of 118 Filipino Americans, the current study demonstrates that higher levels of cultural mistrust is related to lower likelihood of seeking professional psychological help. Furthermore, cultural mistrust predicted variance in mental health help-seeking attitudes that are not accounted for by income, generational status, loss of face, and adherence to Asian cultural values. Implications for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's preference for challenge: The role of perceived competence and control.

This research tested the hypothesis that children's perceptions of academic competence and their personal control over school-related performance affect subsequent intrinsic interest and preference for challenge in an evaluative setting. In a correlational study, children's self-reported perceptions of academic competence and personal control were found to relate positively to their intrinsic interest in schoolwork and preference for challenging school activities. A subset of this sample was exposed to varying levels of a controlling directive, and preference for challenge was assessed behaviorally during a free-choice period in which subjects were unaware that they were being observed. As predicted, the data indicated that when given the evaluative, controlling directive, children who had high perceptions of academic competence and control preferred a greater challenge than did children whose perceptions were low on these measures. No difference between groups in terms of preference for challenge was evident when no controlling directive was presented. These findings are discussed in terms of theories of intrinsic motivation and potential processes that underly these effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Seeking professional help: Etiology beliefs about mental illness across cultures.

In the present study, the authors examined the contributions of cultural beliefs about the etiology of mental illness to the seeking of help from mental health professionals among college students in 4 cultural groups, European Americans, Chinese Americans, Hong Kong Chinese, and Mainland Chinese. Group differences were found in help-seeking history and likelihood, with European and Chinese Americans being more likely to seek help than Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese. Multiple-group path analysis showed that lay beliefs about causes of mental illness and prior help-seeking history significantly predicted help-seeking likelihood, which was related positively to environmental/hereditary causes but negatively to social-personal causes. Our findings demonstrate the importance of understanding help-seeking patterns within specific cultural contexts and the effects of Western influences on shaping help-seeking propensities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adult Attachment and Help-Seeking Intent: The Mediating Roles of Psychological Distress and Perceived Social Support.

This study examined the mediating roles of perceived social support and psychological distress on the relationship between adult attachment and help-seeking intentions. Participants were 355 college students at a large Midwestern university. The structural equation model results indicated that attachment anxiety in individuals was positively related to acknowledging distress and to seeking help. Conversely, individuals with attachment avoidance denied their distress and were reluctant to seek help. However, both individuals with attachment anxiety and individuals with avoidance also perceived less social support, which negatively contributed to their experience of distress, and their distress then positively contributed to their help-seeking intention. Furthermore, attachment anxiety and avoidance, social support, and distress explained 17% of the variance in intent to seek help. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived Achievement Goal Structure and College Student Help Seeking.

Two studies examined associations between college students' help seeking and perceptions of their classes' achievement goal structure. Study 1 established that students' help seeking (N = 883 in 6 chemistry classes) could be parsimoniously described by distinct approach (intentions to seek autonomous help from teachers) and avoidance patterns (threat, avoidance intentions, seeking expedient help). In Study 2, after controlling for students' personal achievement goal orientations (N = 852 in 13 psychology classes), within-class differences in perceived class emphasis on mastery positively predicted help-seeking approach and negatively predicted help-seeking avoidance patterns, whereas perceived class emphasis on performance-avoid goals positively predicted help-seeking avoidance. Students in classes with greater perceived emphasis on performance-avoid goals had higher levels of help-seeking avoidance patterns. Results complement previous research on help seeking and achievement goals with younger learners and provide support for the role of classroom achievement goal structure in student motivation and performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

To seek help or not to seek help: The risks of self-disclosure.

Investigations into the reasons why people seek counseling have, for the most part, focused on approach factors, those variables that are associated with a potential client's increased likelihood of seeking psychological services. The purpose of this research, however, is to explore the role of avoidance factors, those factors that are associated with a potential client's decreased likelihood of seeking services. Across 2 studies of primarily Caucasian college students (ns = 209 and 268, respectively). the results of simultaneous multiple regression analyses demonstrated that avoidance factors predict negative attitudes toward counseling as well as decreased intentions to seek counseling. Overall, results demonstrate that avoidance factors account for at least as much help-seeking variance as traditionally studied approach factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Beliefs and attitudes about bupropion: Implications for medication adherence and smoking cessation treatment.

Beliefs about medication are associated with treatment adherence and outcome. This is a secondary analysis of the role of beliefs and attitudes about bupropion in treatment adherence and smoking cessation outcomes using data from a smoking cessation trial of open-label sustained-release (SR) bupropion therapy reported previously (Toll et al., 2007). Positive beliefs and attitudes were positively correlated with intentions, desire, confidence, and motivation to quit smoking; expectation of quitting success; perceived benefits of quitting; and perceived disadvantages of smoking. Positive beliefs were also associated with greater medication adherence, an increased likelihood of completing treatment and being continuously abstinent, and a delayed latency to smoking lapse. These findings provide preliminary support that positive beliefs and attitudes about bupropion are associated with positive attitudes toward quitting, better treatment adherence, and potentially better treatment response. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cultural mistrust, opinions about mental illness, and Black students' attitudes toward seeking psychological help from White counselors.

Examined the relationship among mistrust of Whites, opinions about mental illness, and help-seeking attitudes among 105 Black college students. Participants completed the Cultural Mistrust Inventory (F. Terrell and S. L. Terrell; see record 1982-29464-001), the Opinions About Mental Illness Scale, the Help-Seeking Attitude Scale (R. Plotkin, unpublished), and the Reid-Gundlach Social Service Satisfaction Scale (P. N. Reid and J. H. Gundlach, 1983). The hypothesis that higher levels of cultural mistrust would predict negative help-seeking attitudes was generally supported through regression analyses. Greater mistrust of Whites was associated with more negative general attitudes about seeking help from clinics staffed primarily by Whites and with an expectation that the services rendered by White counselors would be less satisfactory. Limitations of this study, as well as implications and recommendations for future research and practice, are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reexamining the relationships between racial identity, cultural mistrust, help-seeking attitudes, and preference for a Black counselor.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the extent to which Black racial identity attitudes, cultural mistrust, and help-seeking attitudes predicted preference for a Black counselor in a sample of 168 African American adults. Participants were recruited from college and community settings in an urban, southern location in the United States. Participants completed 4 self-report measures: the Cross Racial Identity Scale (B. J. Vandiver et al., 2000), the Cultural Mistrust Inventory (F. Terrell & S. Terrell, 1981), the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help—Short Form (E. H. Fischer & A. Farina, 1995), and a modified version of the Counselor Preference Scale (T. A. Parham & J. E. Helms, 1981). Multiple regression analyses revealed that racial identity, cultural mistrust, and help-seeking attitudes significantly predicted preference for a Black counselor. Elevated cultural mistrust attitudes, low assimilation attitudes, and strong internalized Afrocentric attitudes significantly and uniquely predicted participants' preference for a Black counselor. The results are discussed with respect to individual differences within groups. Implications for counselors and counseling center directors regarding counselor–client race matching are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Asian-American students' severity of problems and willingness to seek help from university counseling centers: Role of previous counseling experience, gender, and ethnicity.

Extended previous work conducted to understand the problem concerns and help-seeking likelihood of Asian-American college students. A sample of 596 undergraduate and graduate Asian-American students returned a survey questionnaire (response rate 53.8%). Results indicated that previous counseling experience was related to higher ratings for substance abuse concerns and willingness to seek help from a university counseling center to address academic, interpersonal, and substance abuse concerns. Asian-American women indicated higher severity ratings for substance abuse issues than did Asian-American men. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's reluctance to seek help with schoolwork.

Elementary-school children were asked why they do, or do not, ask for help from parents, teachers, and classmates when they have problems in math and reading. Responses were correlated with achievement scores. Findings indicate: (a) Classmates are seen as less helpful than adults in answering questions, (b) there is more concern about possible negative reactions (i.e., perceptions of being "dumb") from classmates than from adults, (c) children perceive a greater need for help in math than in reading, (d) girls are more concerned than boys about negative reactions to help-seeking in math, (e) the more children believe that asking questions is likely to help in learning, the more they like to ask questions, and (f) the lower the child's achievement, the greater their reluctance to ask questions. Discussion focuses on ways in which children's attitudes differ according to academic subject and identity of the helper. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Demographic correlates of attitude toward seeking professional psychological help.

Found that help-seeking orientation was unrelated to social class of origin (based on father's social position) in a total sample of student Ss (N = 989) and for high school Ss and college freshmen considered separately. Jewish Ss tended to express more positive attitudes than Catholics or Protestants. Variables pertinent to academic life, e.g., educational level and scholastic major, significantly differentiated attitudes toward seeking professional aid. Correspondence of attitude to education level was independent of age. Thus, the less favorable outlooks of students with less education are not attributable to proximity to parental values or to greater cynicism among newer students. Findings suggest that attitudes toward psychologists and psychiatrists as help sources are not as closely tied to socioeconomic class as has been indicated in earlier sociological studies. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psi Chi/APA Edwin B. Newman Graduate Research Award: Joseph H. Hammer.

Joseph H. Hammer, recipient of the Psi Chi/APA Edwin B. Newman Graduate Research Award, is cited for an outstanding research paper whose findings provide important evidence regarding the promise of a male-sensitive approach to mental health marketing and empirically support the inclusion of theory-driven enhancements in group-targeted mental health campaign efforts. The paper was titled “Men’s help-seeking for depression: The efficacy of a male-sensitive brochure about therapy.” Hammer’s findings suggest that certain male-tailored approaches may improve depressed men’s attitudes and reduce self-stigma of seeking help. Along with the citation, a biography and selected bibliography of Hammer's works are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)