Item – Theses Canada

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OCLC number
1006900759
Link(s) to full text
LAC copy
LAC copy
Author
Mackenzie, Corey Scott,1971-
Title
The relationship between attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help and intentions to use mental health services.
Degree
Ph. D. -- Queen's University, 2000
Publisher
Ottawa : National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, [2001]
Description
2 microfiches
Notes
Includes bibliographical references.
Abstract
Epidemiological research has demonstrated that although 30% to 50% of North Americans will experience a diagnosable mental disorder in their lifetimes, as many as 80% will not receive treatment. Professional, practical, and personal barriers to mental health services have been proposed to explain why this gap in mental health services exists. The purpose of this research project was to clarify and extend the examination of one personal barrier to service use: Individuals' attitudes towards seeking help for psychological problems. Previous research has been limited in its ability to measure the multidimensional nature of such attitudes in a reliable and valid manner. In order to address this limitation, a revision and extension of Fischer and Turner's (1970) Attitudes Towards Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale (ATSPPHS) was conducted. The result is a theoretically-based, valid and reliable 24-item attitude measure, the Inventory of Attitudes towards Seeking Professional Help for Psychological Problems (IASPHPP). This inventory consists of three distinct subscales: Informed Openness to Treatment, Psychological Privacy, and Perceived Stigma. Using this scale, the effects of age, gender, marital status, and education on attitudes and self-rated knowledge regarding seeking mental health services were examined. Results suggest that attitudes may contribute to low rates of mental health service use for men, and that both attitudes and knowledge deficits may reduce service use among older married individuals and those with lower levels of education. The next phase of the project involved an examination of demographic characteristics, helpseeking history, psychiatric symptomatology and helpseeking attitudes, and their relationship to intentions to use various methods of dealing with mental health concerns. Results suggest that attitudes have a potentially important influence on intentions to talk to a mental health professional, family/friends, and to take care of mental health problems on one's own. Helpseeking attitudes appear to have little influence, however, on intentions to talk to a family physician and a member of the clergy. Past use of these sources of help may be more predictive in these situations. Data from this research suggests that particular aspects of attitudes are related to both demographic factors and intentions to deal with psychological problems.
ISBN
0612528588
9780612528581