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.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/4215 |
| Date | 30 October 2006 |
| Creators | Turner, Erlanger A |
| Contributors | Cepeda-Benito,Antonio, Heffer, Robert W. |
| Publisher | Texas A&M University |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Thesis, text |
| Format | 176681 bytes, electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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