Asian American Students’ Cultural Values, Stigma, and Relational Self-construal: Correlates of Attitudes Toward Professional Help Seeking

Abstract

In this study, we investigated how adherence to Asian values, stigma of receiving psychological help, relational-interdependent self-construal, age and gender, for Asian American college and graduate students, singly and in concert predicted attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help. We also examined how stigma mediates the effect of adherence to Asian values on help-seeking attitudes. Correlational and multiple regression analyses determined that lower adherence to Asian values, lower levels of stigma, a higher relational-interdependent self-construal were associated with more positive help-seeking attitudes. Also, female and older students possessed more positive help-seeking attitudes. The mediational model was not significant. We discuss potential barriers to seeking professional help across sociocultural levels. We address implications for research and practice in mental health counseling.

Mental Health Help-Seeking Behaviors of Muslim Immigrants in the United States: Overcoming Social Stigma and Cultural Mistrust

“…Many studies found that cultural mistrust resulted in a preference by Black clients for Black counselors, negative attitudes toward seeking psychological treatment, and a propensity to terminate therapy prematurely (Sue & Sue, 1972;Townes, Chavez-Korell, & Cunningham, 2009). These findings have been generalized to other minority groups including Southeast Asians and Latinos (David, 2010;Shea & Yeh, 2008).…”

“…Minorities in the U.S. have historically experienced racism, discrimination, and oppression to the extent that these experiences have negatively influenced mental health help-seeking (Chung & Bemak, 2012;Obasi & Leong, 2009;Shea & Yeh, 2008). Initially developed as a concept to describe the distrust Black Americans had towards White Americans, cultural mistrust encompasses an overall mistrust of White-dominated institutions such as the legal system, educational system, job settings, and government agencies (David, 2010).…”

Mental health help seeking among Filipinos: a review of the literature

“…Stigma and its detrimental effect on mental health help-seeking behavior s has been documented in developed countries (Alvidrez, Snowden, & Kaiser, 2008;Cooper, Corrigan, & Watson, 2003;Corrigan, 2004) and among Asian cultures (Fogel & Ford, 2005;Miville & Constantine, 2007;Shea & Yeh, 2008). Culture also plays a big role in shaping attitudes and social interactions with individuals with mental illness, as well as in its treatment (Abdullah & Brown, 2011).…”

The Role of Self-Construal and Perceived Social Support in Prediction of Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help

“…Örneğin, Asya kökenli Amerikalı lisans ve lisansüstü öğrencilerle yapılan bir çalışmada (Shea ve Yeh, 2008), profesyonel psikolojik yardım aramaya ilişkin tutumlar ile kültürel değerler, damgalama ve benlik kurgusu arasındaki ilişkiler incelenmiştir. Araştırma sonucunda, düşük düzeyde damgalama ve yüksek düzeyde ilişkisel-karşılıklı bağımlı benlik kurgusunun, psikolojik yardım aramaya ilişkin olumlu tutumlarla ilişkili olduğu saptanmıştır.…”