Effects of a Brief Video Intervention on Attitudes Toward Counseling Services

This study investigated the effects of a brief video intervention on attitudes toward counseling services. Two hundred and seventy-seven participants were divided into four groups (anxious-preoccupied, dismissive-avoidant, fearful-avoidant, and secure) by their attachment scores. Then, the participants of each group were randomly assigned to three conditions (stigma-reducing, utility-enhancing, and control). A split-plot factorial design was performed to examine the intervention effects. The results indicate that the stigma-reducing video intervention was more effective for the anxious-preoccupied group, whereas the utility-enhancing video intervention was more effective for the dismissive-avoidant group than other groups. These results suggest the importance of implementing strategies tailored to each attachment group.

The Relationships Among Self-Compassion, Stigma, and Attitudes Toward Counseling in Student-Athletes

Although factors involved with help-seeking have been widely studied in the general college population, college student-athletes have received less attention. The purpose of this study was to examine the moderating role of self-compassion on the relationship between public and self-stigma, and how self-stigma was associated with attitudes toward seeking counseling. A sample of 243 student-athletes from NCAA Divisions I and III participated in the study. Using structural equation modeling, self-compassion was not found to moderate the relationship between public and self-stigma. However, public stigma was positively associated with self-stigma, and self-stigma was negatively associated with attitudes toward counseling. A multigroup analysis did not find differences between males and females for the model. The results of this study have implications for professionals who work with college student-athletes and suggest that efforts should aim to reduce stigma and examine alternative factors that might improve attitudes toward mental health help-seeking.

Evaluating the Influence of Self-Efficacy, Trepidation of Stigma, and Previous Counseling Experience on University Students’ Attitudes Toward Psychological and Social Counseling: Implications for Intervention

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the influence that self-efficacy, trepidation of stigma, and previous counseling experience had on university students’ attitudes toward counseling. Participants’ data were examined separately for students with earlier counseling experience and no earlier counseling experience. One-way analyses of variance showed the group that had no previous counseling reported more concerns of being stigmatized by counseling, rated themselves as more encouraged individuals, and had lower perceptions of self-efficacy than the group with previous counseling experience. These results suggest that students who have not experienced counseling are a varied group, ranging from very encouraged individuals to those doubting their own capabilities. Pearson Product–Moment correlation coefficients were calculated to examine the relationships between stigma, self-efficacy, and attitude toward counseling for student participants. Results indicated that more optimistic attitudes toward counseling were positively related to female. These analyses also revealed that self-efficacy was associated with being male and with higher levels of encouragement. Two multiple regressions were calculated to investigate which of the variables listed earlier were the best predictors of participants’ attitudes toward counseling. Among participants who had previous counseling experience, gender and age were the significant predictors of attitude toward counseling. An analysis of covariance revealed that the majority of the variance in attitudes toward counseling was accounted for previous counseling experience. Findings suggest that although the trepidation of being stigmatized may not affect students’ attitudes toward counseling, it remains an important variable in the decision to seek or not seek counseling services.

College Students’ Attitudes Toward Counseling for Mental Health Issues in Two Developing Asian Countries

This study examines 300 college students in Iran and China. It clarifies that students from China have more positive attitudes toward counseling than those from Iran using a quantitative survey with well-established existing scales in the literature. The regression tests show different indictors for college students’ attitudes toward mental health counseling in these two developing countries. Anticipated risk has been found as the most negative and powerful predictor of attitudes toward counseling in Iran. Stigma has been found as the most negative and powerful predictor of attitudes toward counseling in China. Implications have been discussed for educational departments and governments to advocate positive evaluations on mental health counseling services.

Perfectionism and Marital Satisfaction among Graduate Students: A Multigroup Invariance Analysis by Counseling Help-seeking Attitudes

This study aims to measure the latent mean difference in perfectionism and marital satisfaction by counseling help-seeking attitudes. The respondents were 327 married graduate students from a research university in Malaysia. An online self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. The respondents completed the Almost Perfect Scale- Revised, Dyadic Almost Perfect Scale, Marital Satisfaction Scale, and Attitudes toward Seeking Professional Psychology Help Scale. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to examined the instruments and the results indicated that construct validity were achieved. The latent mean difference in perfectionism and marital satisfaction by counseling help-seeking attitudes were tested using multigroup invariance analysis. The respondents with negative attitudes toward counseling help-seeking (n = 159) reported a higher latent mean in perfectionism but a lower latent mean in marital satisfaction compared to those with positive attitudes toward counseling help-seeking (n = 168). The implications of these findings for counseling services are discussed.