Examining mental health locus of origin as a mediator of the relationship between identifying a psychological disorder and recommending treatment

Introduction: Research on mental health treatment barriers has yielded little progress toward increasing treatment use. This study examined whether participants’ mental health locus of origin, an attribution that a mental disorder is either biologically or environmentally caused, affected their ability to identify a psychological disorder and recommend appropriate treatment for it. Methods: 163 participants with no history of mental health treatment were presented case vignettes to diagnose and recommend treatment for and completed mental health locus of origin questionnaire. Results: Structural equation modelling was used to find a statistically significant relationship between identifying a psychological disorder and recommending appropriate treatment for it; however, participants’ mental health locus of origin did not mediate the relationship. Conclusions: Participants had more difficulty labeling and recommending appropriate treatment for the vignettes with a mild or severe problem, suggesting that increasing knowledge about psychological disorders and corresponding appropriate treatments may address the treatment gap.