ON THE COUCH OR IN THE SHADOWS? PREDICTORS OF SEEKING MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT
Main Article Content
Keywords
Self-Stigma, Social support, Help-seeking attitudes, Health Locus of Control, common mental disorders
Abstract
The purpose of the study was to examine the predictors of seeking professional psychological help among patients of common mental disorders. Specifically, the study investigated whether, Self-Stigma, perceived social support (family, friends and significant others) and Health locus of control (internal, external and chance) predicts attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help (need for psychological help, Confidence on health provider, interpersonal openness and stigma tolerance). Three hundred (male & female) outdoor psychiatric patients were purposively selected from Government hospital of Rawalpindi district. Symptom checklist (Rahman, 2009), Mini mental state examination (Awan, 2015), Self-stigma of seeking help scale (Haake, Vogel & Wade, 2006), Multidimensional health locus of control scale (DeVellis, Wallston, & Wallston, 1978), Multidimensional Perceived social support scale (Ruksana & Zafar, 2013) and Attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help scale (Fishcher & Turner, 1970) was used for data collection. Permission from original authors were also taken for the translation of the tools. The findings of the study revealed that Self- Stigma, positively predict (Need, Confidence, Interpersonal and Stigma tolerance) attitudes. Perceived social support from friends, family and significant others dose not significantly predict (need) attitudes. Chance health locus of control is a negative and powerful other is a positive predictor of (need) attitudes. It was also found that perceived social from others significantly and social support from family negatively predict (openness) attitudes, internal and chance health locus of control positively predict (openness) attitudes of seeking professional psychological help. Further, perceived social support from family negatively predict (stigma tolerance) and social support from significant others positively predicts (stigma tolerance attitudes) towards seeking professional psychological help.
References
2. Locus of control, religious problem-solving and psychological help-seeking. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 14(9), 8876. https://doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2010.533369
3. Barrera, M. (1986). Distinctions between social support concepts, measures, and
models. American Journal of Community Psychology, 14(4), 413–
445. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00922627
4. Bates R., C., Waller., K., V. (1992). Health locus of control and self-efficacy beliefs in a healthy elderly sample. Am J Health Promot, 6(4), 302-9. doi: 10.4278/0890-1171-6.4.302. PMID: 10148754
5. Bertera E., M. (2005). Mental health in U.S. adults: The role of positive social support and social negativity in personal relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 22(1), 33-48. doi:10.1177/0265407505049320
6. Bland, J. M., & Altman, D. G., (1997). Cronbach’s Alpha. British Medical Journal, 314, 572. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.314.7080.572
7. Boerema, A. M., Kleiboer, A., Beekman, A. T. F., van Zoonen, K., Dijkshoorn, H., & Cuijpers, P. (2016). Determinants of help-seeking behavior in depression: a cross- sectional study. BMC Psychiatry, 16, 1-9. [78]. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-010790-0
8. Brislin, R. W. (1970). Back-translation for cross-cultural research. Journal of Cross-Cultural
Psychology, 1(3), 185–216. https://doi.org/10.1177/135910457000100301
9. Campion, J., Bhui, K., & Bhugra, D. (2012). European Psychiatric Association (EPA) guidance on prevention of mental disorders. European Psychiatry, 27(2), 68-80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2011.10.004.
10. Christensen, M. K., Lim, C. C. W., Saha, S., Plana-Ripoll, O., Cannon, D., Presley, F, & McGrath, J. J. (2020). The cost of mental disorders: a systematic review. Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences, 29, e161. https://doi.org/10.1017/S204579602000075X.
11. Crisp, A. H., Gelder, M. G., Rix, S., Meltzer, H. I., & Rowlands, O. J. (2000). Stigmatisation of people with mental illnesses. The British journal of psychiatry, 177(1), 4-7. doi: 10.1192/bjp.177.1.4. PMID: 10945080.
12. Cheng, H., McDermott, C. R., & Lopez, G. F. (2015). Mental Health, Self-Stigma, and Help-Seeking Intentions Among Emerging Adults: An Attachment Perspective. The Counseling Psychologist, 43(3), 463-487. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000014568203
13. Corrigan, P.W. & Rüsch., N. (2004). Mental Illness Stereotypes and Clinical Care: Do People Avoid Treatment Because of Stigma?. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Skills, 6(3), 312-334. DOI: 10.1080/10973430208408441
14. Curcio, C., & Corboy, D. (2020). Stigma and anxiety disorders: A systematic review. Stigma and Health, 5(2), 125–137. https://doi.org/10.1037/sah0000183
15. Derogatis, L. R. (1983). SCL-90-R: Administration, Scoring and Procedures: Manual II. Baltimore, MD: Clinical Psychometric Research.
16. Wallston, K. A., Strudler Wallston, B., & DeVellis, R. (1978). Development of the multidimensional health locus of control (MHLC) scales. Health education monographs, 6(1), 160-170.DOI: 10.1177/109019817800600107.
17. Fischer, E. H., & Turner, J. I. (1970). Orientations to seeking professional help: Development and research utility of an attitude scale. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 35(1, Pt.1), 79–90. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0029636
18. Folstein, M. F., Folstein, S. E., & McHugh, P. R. (1975). “Mini-mental state”: a practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. Journal of psychiatric research, 12(3), 189-198.
19. Campion, J., Bhui, K., & Bhugra, D. (2012). European Psychiatric Association (EPA) guidance on prevention of mental disorders. European Psychiatry, 27(2), 68-80.doi: 10.1016/j.eurpsy.2011.10.004.
20. Golberstein, E., Eisenberg, D., & Gollust, S. E. (2008). Perceived stigma and mental health care seeking. Psychiatric Services, 59(4), 392-399. doi:10.1176/appi.ps.59.4.392
21. Guan, Z., Huang, C., Wiley, J. A., Sun, M., Bai, X., & Tang, S. (2020). Internalized stigma and its correlates among family caregivers of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia in Changsha, Hunan, China. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 27(3), 224–236.
22. Haque, A. (2005). Mental health concepts and program development in Malaysia. Journal of Mental Health, 14(2), 183–195. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638230500059997
23. Hatzenbuehler, M. L., & Link, B. G. (2014). Introduction to the special issue on structural stigma and health. Social Science & Medicine, 103, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.12.017
24. Huang, P. R. (2009). Introduction to the improvement of the mental health service system - analysis focus on long-term hospitalized psychiatric patients present. Chin Med Eth., 22(3), 72–6.
25. Kulesza, M., Raguram, R., & Rao, D. (2014). Perceived mental health related stigma, gender, and depressive symptom severity in a psychiatric facility in South India. Asian journal of psychiatry, 9, 73-77.doi: 10.1016/j.ajp.2014.03.005.
26. Naeem, F., Ayub, M., Javed, Z., Irfan, M., Haral, F., & Kingdon, D. (2006). Stigma and psychiatric illness. A survey of attitude of medical students and doctors in Lahore, Pakistan. Journal of Ayub Medical College Abbottabad, 18(3).
27. Pangman, V. C., Sloan, J., & Guse, L. (2000). An examination of psychometric properties of the mini-mental state examination and the standardized mini-mental state examination: implications for clinical practice. Applied nursing research, 13(4), 209-213. doi: 10.1053/apnr.2000.9231.
28. Pfeifer, T. A., Kranz, P. L., & Scoggin, A. E. (2008). Perceived stress in occupational therapy students. Occupational Therapy International, 15(4), 221-231. doi: 10.1002/oti.256.
29. Pfohl, A. H. (2010). Factors influencing psychological help-seeking attitudes and behavior in counseling trainees (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://etd. ohiolink.edu
30. Rickwood, D., Deane, F. P., Wilson, C. J., & Ciarrochi, J. (2005). Young people’s help-seeking for mental health problems. Australian e-journal for the Advancement of Mental health, 4(3), 218-251. DOI: 10.5172/jamh.4.3.218
31. Rotter, J. B. (1966). Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 80(1), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0092976
32. Simoni, J. M., Adelman, H. S., & Nelson, P. (1991). Perceived control, causality, expectations and help-seeking behaviour. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 4(1), 37–44. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515079108254427
33. Sharir, D., Tanasescu, M., Turbow, D. & Maman, Y. (2007). Social Support and Quality of Life among Psychiatric Patients in Residential Homes. International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation, 11, 85-89.
34. Shapiro, S.L., Schwartz, G.E. & Bonner, G. (1998). Effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on Medical and Premedical Students. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 21, 581–599. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018700829825
35. Steel, Z., Marnane, C., Iranpour, C., Chey, T., Jackson, J. W., Patel, V., & Silove, D. (2014). The global prevalence of common mental disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis 1980–2013. International journal of epidemiology, 43(2), 476-493. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyu038.
36. Topkaya, N. (2014). Gender, Self-stigma, and Public Stigma in Predicting Attitudes toward Psychological Help-seeking. Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice 14(2), 114-120. DOI: 10.12738/estp.2014.2.1799
37. Vogel, D. L., Wade, N. G., & Haake, S. (2006). Measuring the self-stigma associated with seeking psychological help. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53(3), 325–337. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.53.3.325
38. Yap, M. B. H., & Devilly, G. J. (2004). The role of perceived social support in crime victimization. Clinical Psychology Review, 24(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2003.09.007
39. Wallston, B. S., Wallston, K. A., Kaplan,G. D., & Maides, S. A. (1976). Development and validation of the health locus of control (HLC) scale. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1(44), 580-585.
40. Wills, T. A., & DePaulo, B. M. (1991). Interpersonal analysis of the help-seeking process. In C. R. Snyder & D. R. Forsyth (Eds.), Handbook of social and clinical psychology: The health perspective (pp. 350–375). Pergamon Press.
41. World Health Organization. Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean. (2020). World Health Organization annual report 2019 WHO Country Office Lebanon: health for all. World Health Organization. Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean. https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/333249. License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO
42. Zimet, G. D., Dahlem, N. W., Zimet, S. G., & Farley, G. K. (1988). The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Journal of Personality Assessment, 52(1), 30–41. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa5201_2
Article Sidebar
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
All articles published in JPTCP are licensed under Copyright Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Amna Liaquat
Clinical Psychologist, Department of Psychiatry, Benazir Bhutto Hospital Rawalpindi, Ex-MS Scholar, International Islamic University, Islamabad
Mamoona Ismail Loona
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, International Islamic University, Islamabad
Sadia Yasir
Assistant Professor, Institute of Psychiatry, Rawalpindi Medical University, Rawalpindi
Amna Hassan
Lecturer, Department of Psychology, University of Wah, Wah Cantt