Attitudes Toward Seeking Mental Health Essay

AbstractAccording to the World health presidency an estimated 200 million people globally are affected by serious genial health problems, even, research evidence refers that only around one-third of those experiencing rational health difficulties actually essay treatment. A number of psycho-social and demographic factors soak up been found to explain variation in attitudes towards, and intentions to, seek mental help. This take on sought to examine the association between attitudes towards desire mental health services and intentions to absorb in mental counselling. The sample for the current find out consisted of 331 active and retired members of the national law of nature force of the body politic of Ireland. It was predicted that psychological openness, help-seeking propensity, and indifference to stigma would all positively predict intentions to participate in psychological counselling, after(prenominal) controlling for age, gender and personality factors.The res ults showed that Finish AbstractIntroductionAccording to the World Health Organisation an estimated 200 million people globally are affected by serious mental health problems (Mollica, 2000). Available data, however, suggests that only around one-third of those experiencing mental health difficulties actually make treatment wholesaler (Kessler et al., 2009). This is of concern not only because of the deleterious impact on individuals lives, but similarly because of the associated economic and societal costs of untreated mental health problems (Kessler et al., 2009). A number of psycho-social and demographic factors have been found to explain variation in attitudes towards, and intentions to, seek psychological help (e.g., Bartels, 2003 Segal, Coolidge, Mincic, & ORiley, 2005 Vogel, Wester, Wei, & Boysen, 2005). How favourable and efficient one believes psychological counselling to be, ones own belief in their capacity to utilize in counselling, and perceptions of subsequent soci al rejectionfollowing counselling attendance, have been identified as particularly powerful (e.g., Hyland, McLaughlin, Boduszek, & Prentice, 2012 Vogel & Wester, 2003).Research also suggests that females may be significantly much apt(predicate) than males to hold favourable attitudes towards utilising mental health services (e.g., Chandra & Minkovitz 2006 Raunic & Xenos, 2008), although some studies have shown that males and females do not differ in their attitudes or intentions towards the custom of mental health services (e.g., Kelly & Achter, 1995 Vogel & Wester, 2003). Additionally, personality factors have been suggested to impact upon individuals help-seeking attitudes and intentions. Jagdeo, Cox, Stein, and Sareen (2009) found that antisocial personality disoblige was associated with greater negative attitudes towards help-seeking using data from the US National Comorbidity Survey (NCS) (n = 5877) and the Ontario Health Survey (OHS) (n = 6902). presumptuousness the disp arity between mental health service needs and service utilization a more comprehensive understanding of the factors involved in counselling-seeking behaviour is required.The Inventory of Attitudes toward Seeking Mental Health operate (IASMHS Mackenzie, Knox, Gekoski, & Macaulay, 2004) is a 24- position racing shell designed to assess the attitudinal factors that influence the seeking of mental health services. This scale was real based upon Fisher and Turners (1970) Attitudes toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale. The scale was positive with a clear theoretical foundation, and its increasing use in research (James & Buttle, 2008 Loya, Reddy, & Hinshaw, 2010 Mackenzie, Gekoski, & Knox, 2006 Mojaverian, Hashimoto, & Kim, 2012 Floersch et al., 2009). The IASMHS initially included 41-items, however the results an exploratory factor epitome (EFA) using maximum likelihood estimation among a sample of 208 vainglorious volunteers (Mackenzie et al., 2004) reduced the num ber of items in the scale to 24.Results indicated that the 24-item scale could be explained in terms of trey match factors, which accounted for 43% of variance (a) Psychological Openness (the degree to which an individual is open to acknowledging the presence of a psychological problem and to seek lord care for such a problem), (b) Help-Seeking Propensity (ones willingness and perceived ability to seek help for psychological problems), and (c) Indifference to Stigma (how concerned an individual would tonicity were significant others to let loose that they were receiving psychological care).Internal consistency coefficients for the IASMHS subscales were reported to be good with Cronbachs alphas of .82 (psychological openness), .76 (help-seeking propensity), and .79 (indifference to stigma).Factor correlations were moderate with r values ranging from .37 to .47. In the same paper, using an independent sample of 293 undergraduate university students and employing confirmatory fac tor analysis (CFA) techniques, Mackenzie and colleagues (2004) reported that they replicated the three-factor solution indicated by the EFA. Model fit was acceptable and factor correlations ranged from r = .26 to .43. The current study aims to assess the degree to which intentions to participate in psychological counselling can be predicted by attitudes towards seeking mental health services. Specifically, it was predicted that psychological openness, help-seeking propensity, and indifference to stigma would all positively predict intentions to participate in psychological counselling, after controlling for age, gender and personality factors.MethodParticipantsThe sample for the current study consisted of 331 (Males n = 202 Females n = 129) active and retired members of the national police force of the Republic of Ireland. Of the officers recruited, 302 (91%) were currently dowry members of the Irish police force, era 29 (9%) were retired. Participants ranged in age from 20 to 77 years, with an average age of 28.41 years (SD = 8.63). just under half the sample of officers were stationed in rural areas (45%, n = 149), 41% were stationed in suburban areas (n = 136), and 14% were stationed in urban areas (n = 46). The majority of officers who participated in this study were recent entrants into the police service with 63% of respondents indicating that they had been serving for two years or less (n = 209). Approximately half were married (48%, n = 159), while the remain participants either resided with parents (27%, n = 89), lived with other family members (3%, n = 10), or lived alone (22%, n = 73).ProcedureThe majority of study participants were recruited during a training seminar (n = 259), while the remaining officers were recruited via formal written requests (n = 72). Appropriate authorization was granted from the applicableofficials to carry out the study. In total, 532 members were approached to get along the research questionnaire, and 365 volunteer ed their participation (68%). However due to overwhelming absent data in 34 returned surveys only 331 responses were retained for the final analysis (62%).Participants were required to complete an anon. self-report, paper-and-pencil questionnaire booklet which included an instruction sheet and a consent form attached to the front of the booklet. Participants were sensible about confidentiality and informed that their participation was voluntary. Completed questionnaires were returned by the participants to their superior officer in sealed envelopes, and were by and by returned to the principal investigator.MeasuresThe Inventory of Attitudes toward Seeking Mental Health Services (IASMHS Mackenzie et al., 2004) is a 24-item scale designed to total an individuals attitudes towards seeking mental health services. The IASMHS was developed in order to whole tone three factors labeled (a) Psychological openness, (b) Help-seeking propensity, and (c) Indifference to stigma. Psychological openness reflects the degree to which an individual is open to acknowledging the presence of a psychological problem and to seek professional care for such a problem. Help-seeking propensity reflects ones willingness and perceived ability to seek help for psychological problems. Indifference to stigma refers to how concerned an individual would feel if significant others were to discover that they were receiving psychological care. Each factor is proposed to be measured via 8 items and each item is measured using a five point Likert-scale ranging from 0 (disagree) to 4 (agree).Intentions to move in Psychological Counselling Intentions were measured as part of a larger questionnaire designed to measure the various constructs of the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991). This questionnaire was constructed according to the guidelines set forth by Ajzen (1991, 2002). The questionnaire was based upon a fictitious scenario which included the four elements of time, context, action, an d target, as proposed by Ajzen and Fishbein (1977). The scenario describes an event that took place six hebdomads previously in which an individual witnesses a severe roadtraffic accident. In the intervening six weeks this individual begins to induce significant personality changes.The individual is reported to now experience prolonged periods of extreme sadness, lack of energy, disoblige thoughts related to the traumatic event, reduced interest in normally pleasurable activities, severe panic attacks while outside, and refusal to leave the house even for work. A friend of this individual attends a G.P. about the matter and the G.P. recommends that the expound person should attend a professional psychologist for counselling within the next week. An appointment is thus do for next week. Participants in this study are asked to place themselves in the position of this fictitious person and to complete the questions that follow (see Appendix A for the full vignette).Behavioural inte ntions were measured via three items (Cronbachs alpha = .77). 1. How likely is it that you would intend to go along to see a professional psychologist for counseling within the next week if you were in Terrys position? 2. You will try to participate in counseling with a professional psychologist within the next week. 3. You have decided to participate in counseling with a professional psychologist within the next week. Each item was measured along a seven point Likert scale ranging from 1 (extremely unlikely) to 7 (extremely likely) and the scores on the three questions were summed. Higher scores on this scale indicate stronger intentions to engage in counselling.