INTRODUCTION Since the expansion of the EU, several hundred thousand people from Eastern European countries have migrated to the UK, the majority of whom are Polish. Although no studies examining utilisation of mental health services by Polish workers in the UK could be found, research suggests that their knowledge of how to access health services is low, while rates of emergency psychiatric treatment are relatively high. The broader migrant literature suggests that migrants can perceive a cultural mismatch between themselves and services, find it difficult to access services due to logistical barriers, and often prefer to seek help from other sources. The current study sought to explore Polish migrants' responses to distress, with a focus on views about accessing psychological services. METHODS A cultural psychology framework using Charmaz's social constructionist method of grounded theory was adopted in the design of the research. Field work was conducted within the Polish community, and semi-structured interviews took place with Polish community members and key informants. Utilising data from a range of sources allowed for triangulation of the data, and credibility was further enhanced by member checking. Data were analysed using guidelines outlined by Charmaz supported by NVivo software. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Participants' responses to distress were congruent with their sense of identity and the norms of the social groups with which they identified. Polish cultural values emphasising family closeness, traditional gender roles and discomfort with difference influenced participants' help-seeking strategies. The majority of participants preferred to seek help from a close inner circle of family and friends, at least in the first instance. Participants from working class rural backgrounds appeared to adhere more strongly to traditional values and often saw psychological services as irrelevant to them, whereas seeing a therapist was viewed as fashionable for those from urban, middle-class social groups. Disappointment with Scottish primary care services led to reluctance to approach the NHS for help with emotional difficulties, while those who were satisfied with their treatment were open to this possibility. Private services were preferred in Poland, which could result in preferences for seeking help from private Polish therapists in Scotland. This may also allow problems to be contained within the broader Polish community in line with Polish cultural values. CONCLUSIONS Clinical psychology services in Scotland may not be well-placed to meet the needs of Polish migrant workers. NHS services should attempt to be more responsive to the needs of migrant groups in order that they are not discouraged from seeking help if required. Furthermore, it may be helpful to find ways of working with other organisations which migrants feel more comfortable approaching.

The number of Chinese international students obtaining their education at American institutions of higher education has reached a pinnacle, in that more Chinese international students attend American colleges and universities than ever before (Institute of International Education, 2015). Colleges and universities actively recruit Asian international students, especially those from the People’s Republic of China. As Chinese international students continue to represent an ever-greater percentage of the student bodies at colleges and universities, these institutions have a responsibility to attend to the mental health needs of this population. Within this population, research suggests that male Asian international students hold less positive attitudes toward seeking help than their female peers (Komiya & Eells, 2001). Since the participants in this study represent an intersection of identities, the extant research from several populations will be reviewed. Specifically, literature examining college students’, college men’s, racial minorities’, and international students’ mental health needs, attitudes towards mental health resources, and help-seeking behaviors will be discussed. The literature review will also build a case for examining male Chinese international students’ mental health needs. The goal of this study is to provide greater insight into how male Chinese international students perceive mental health resources. The current study utilized Consensual Qualitative Research (Hill, 2012; Hill et al. 2005; Hill et al., 1997) to examine male Chinese international students’ experiences as international students, their adjustment to American culture, their mental health needs, their perceptions of mental health resources, and their help-seeking behaviors. Results indicated that participants struggled with a number of aspects of their experience as international students, specifically the adjustment to a new language, academic challenges, difficulty with isolation, and professional dilemmas. Participants also identified positive aspects of their experiences as international students including but not limited to making friends and academic successes. Participants revealed copious challenges within their adjustment to American culture. The majority of participants reported that they enjoyed the cultural differences, although participants often noted their dislike of American culture and their preference for Chinese culture. Participants also discussed perceived discrepancies in cultural norms between American culture and Chinese culture. The majority of participants in this study had never sought psychological counseling before. The results indicated that participants were aware of a number of barriers to seeking counseling including the lack of need for counseling, the desire to manage their concerns by themselves, the fear of judgment or stigma from seeking help, the perception that counseling is not helpful, and that other resources were preferred. Participants also identified several potential reasons for seeking help including relationship difficulties, academic challenges, and severe mental health needs. The findings of this study also point to several ways in which participants felt masculinity could impact their perceptions of counseling. Although many participants did not feel that masculinity impacted help-seeking behaviors or perceptions of counseling, participants acknowledged that masculine norms like the need to handle problems alone or not wanting to seem weak or emotional could impact their perceptions of counseling. Participants also identified a number of differences between counseling in the United States versus counseling in China. Results indicated that participants viewed counseling as more developed, professional, effective, and trustworthy in the United States. Lastly, participants shared their opinions about mental health concerns. Some participants identified mental health concerns as important, while others felt that they were not important or were perhaps less important than concerns like physical health. The author identifies practical applications for mental health professionals working with international students, aspiring to provide more culturally-sensitive services to male Chinese international students. Limitations of this study and suggestions for future research are provided.

This study investigated the relationship between public stigma, self-stigma, and help-seeking attitudes in a sample of undergraduate student-athletes. Student-athletes appear to be at increased risk for developing mental health issues compared to their non-athlete counterparts (Etzel et al., 2006). However, student-athletes appear to underutilize available mental health services for fear of being labeled as mentally ill as well as other factors (Pinkerton, Hinz, and Barrow, 1989). The purpose of the current study is to explore two facets of stigma as a potential explanation for negative attitudes toward help-seeking and thus the underutilization of these mental health services. Sixty-six student-athletes completed a 10-minute paper-pencil survey. The survey included measures of self-stigma, public stigma, help-seeking attitudes, demographic variables, and an open-ended question regarding barriers to help-seeking. Results indicated that self-stigma mediated the relationship between public stigma and help-seeking attitudes, which replicates the mediated model found in Vogel et al. (2007). Self-stigma appears to explain how negative stereotypes about those who seek help are internalized to form negative attitudes toward help-seeking for student-athletes. Further, student-athletes noted barriers to help-seeking such as lack of time or knowledge of resources as well as fear of being labeled as mentally ill. Implications for research and practice are delineated.

Masculinity research suggests help-seeking attitudes towards mental health concerns conflict with socialized masculine norms such as emotional control and self-reliance (Addis & Mahalik, 2003; Heath, Brenner, Vogel, Lannin, & Strass, 2017). As psychologists continue to find ways to reach out to men, exercise intervention may be the catalyst for men to seek out psychological services. More specifically, boxing training has been shown to increase the sense of self-confidence and character development (Shultz, Stoner, Lambrick, & Lane, 2014; Sokol, 2004). In this study, 24 men engaged in a six-session boxing training program to examine the impact high-intensity exercise has on psychological help-seeking attitudes and psychological distress. Participants reported lower psychological distress, an increase in health behaviors, and high levels of exercise self-efficacy throughout the intervention. Additionally, participants who reported greater adherence to traditional masculine norms endorsed greater psychological distress compared to participants reporting lower adherence to masculine norms. Help-seeking attitudes towards psychological services did not change throughout the boxing program, suggesting men may gain the psychological benefits they seek directly from action-oriented activities.

Research shows that a considerable number of children and adolescents suffer needlessly from psychological problems and only about 50% of those receive the necessary services. Considering the impact of untreated child psychological problems on problems in adulthood, it is important to examine the influence of attitudes on seeking mental health service for children. Currently, no known measure exists to measure attitudes toward mental health services for children. Building on previous research, the goal of the present study was to develop a measure of individuals' attitudes toward mental health services for children. Using confirmatory factor analysis, the factor structure was assessed using a sample of university students (N = 250). In addition, several hypotheses were tested examining the influence of previous experience with mental health services on attitudes towards psychological services and mental health stigma. Finally, differences in child characteristics on intended help-seeking were examined. The measure developed consists of 26-items scored from 0 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Overall, results indicated that the 3-factor structure of the measure developed was valid and reliable. Also, consistent with previous research on mental health services results supported the hypotheses of the current study. Future research will examine whether the 3-factor structure is replicated using a sample of parents.

This proposed study will explore how university racial composition impacts the relationship between cultural mistrust, campus comfort, and help-seeking attitudes in a sample of African American college students. A moderated hierarchical regression will be conducted to determine if the cultural and contextual variables predict a significant amount of variance in help-seeking attitudes, and to discover if the variables’ interaction with university type significantly increased the amount of explained variance. The results will demonstrate how one’s comfort in the university environment and degree of trust in the majority group can contribute to seeking psychological services. Counseling and university policy implications will be delineated from the results. Limitations will also be discussed. / text

Doctor of Philosophy / School of Family Studies and Human Services / Briana S. Goff / Human sex trafficking is a complex and unique phenomenon involving the commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) of persons by means of force, fraud, or coercion. The purpose of this study was to investigate unique patterns of trauma exposure and biopsychosocial health among a sample of CSE survivors. Results from a latent profile analysis with 135 adults trafficked in the United States yielded three distinct survivor sub-groups: mildly distressed, moderately distressed, and severely distressed. The mildly distressed class (18.5%) was characterized by the lowest reports of trauma exposure and an absence of clinically significant psycho-social stress symptoms. The moderately distressed class (48.89%) endorsed comparatively medial levels of trauma exposure, as well as clinically significant disturbance in six domains of psycho-social health. The severely distressed class (32.59%) reported the highest degree of trauma exposure and exhibited clinically significant symptoms of pervasive psycho-social stress across all domains assessed. To better understand variation in CSE survivors’ engagement with formal support services, this study also examined differences in help-seeking attitudes and intentions between latent classes. Results indicated that compared to those in the mildly and moderately distressed classes, severely distressed survivors endorsed significantly more unfavorable attitudes toward seeking professional help, along with no intention to seek help from any source when facing a personal or emotional crisis. Findings from this study provide a snapshot of significant heterogeneity in trauma exposure and biopsychosocial health among CSE survivors, as well as associated differences in help-seeking attitudes and intentions. The identification of distinct survivor sub-groups in these and future analyses mark an important intermediate step toward developing empirically-testable support services that are specifically designed to meet the unique needs of CSE survivors.

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