This study is an investigation of how people’s attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help are related to how they typically cope with stressors and by their general self-efficacy – a relationship that has not been examined in prior research. Participants were 754 men and women students in a mid-sized Midwestern university. Students completed an online survey that included the Brief COPE, Beliefs About Psychological Services scale, and New General Self-Efficacy scale. Results revealed that higher general self-efficacy and coping by means of Use of Emotional Support, Use of Instrumental Support, and Venting were associated with more positive attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help; and that lower self-efficacy and coping by means of Denial, Substance Use, Behavioral Disengagement, and Self-Blame were associated with less positive attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

The effect of psychoeducation on opinions about mental illness, attitudes toward help seeking, and expectations about psychotherapy were investigated. One group served as a control, one group read a written lecture on information about mental illness, and one group read a written lecture on information about psychotherapy. The control group, and experimental groups immediately after reading the lecture, completed demographic information, Attitudes Toward Help Seeking-Short Form, Expectations About Counseling-Brief Form, Nunnally Conceptions of Mental Illness Questionnaire, and three College Adjustment Scales (Depression, Anxiety, Self Esteem). Participants were asked to complete the same measures four weeks after the initial assessment. Results: No significant improvement in attitudes toward help seeking was demonstrated in either experimental group, at either time of testing. Expectations about psychotherapy were significantly improved in both experimental groups, which remained significant at Time 2. Opinions about mental illness demonstrated an immediate significant improvement in attitudes with the mental illness lecture group, however this effect did not remain at Time 2. The psychotherapy lecture group did not have significantly improved opinions about mental illness at either time of testing. The control group did not produce any significant changes between Time 1 and Time 2 testing. Experimental group scores demonstrated similarity with those who had previous experience with psychotherapy. No relationship was found between level of adjustment and attitudes toward help seeking, expectations about psychotherapy, or opinions about mental illness at either time of testing.

In this study, an Implicit Association Test (IAT) was created to measure individuals attitudes towards seeking psychological help. The IAT was administered prior to the Beliefs About Psychological Services scale (BAPS; Ægisdóttir & Gerstein, 2009) to examine the relationship between the implicit and explicit measures of attitudes toward seeking psychological help. It was theorized that the implicit measure would be less affected by social desirability and unconscious attitudes than the explicit measure. Standardizing revealed that IAT scores reflected less belief in the expertness of psychology professionals than did BAPS scores. However, participants reported greater intent to seek psychological help on the BAPS compared to the IAT. BAPS scores reflected higher stigma towards psychological services compared to the IAT. Correlations between the implicit and explicit measure were moderate for stigma and perceived expertness of psychology professionals but low for intent to seek psychological help. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

The relationships among counseling expectations, attitudes toward seeking psychological help, psychological distress, and intention to seek counseling have only been examined in one previous study (Vogel, Wester, Wei, & Boysen, 2005). The primary purpose of the current study was to replicate and address the limitations of the Vogel et al. (2005) study. First, a mediation analysis of attitudes on the relationship of expectations and intention to seek therapy was performed. Next, path analyses were used to test a model of the relationship among counseling expectations, attitudes toward seeking psychological help, psychological distress, and the intent to seek counseling, for men and women separately. In the hypothesized model, two separate paths were predicted to impact intentions to seek psychological help. First, three distinct expectations about counseling (personal commitment, facilitative conditions, and counselor expertise) were expected to influence attitudes toward seeking psychological help, which in turn, predicted intention to seek counseling. Second, psychological distress was expected to relate to the intent to seek therapy. Because the hypothesized model for both genders did not fit the data, exploratory path analyses were completed. In the final path model for men, additional paths from the expectancy factors personal commitment and counselor expertise to intent to seek therapy resulted in a well-fitting model. For women, an additional path between psychological distress and attitudes improved the model significantly. Impact of these findings for research and practice are discussed. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services