The interaction of stigma and distress: predicting the help-seeking attitudes of United States students

Surapaneni, Spurty; Larson, Lisa M.; Heath, Patrick J.; Vogel, David L.

doi:10.1080/03069885.2018.1504201

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Islamophobia is a reliable predictor of psychological distress in MLUS (Samari et al, 2018), but this distress led to positive help-seeking attitudes. Surapaneni et al (2019) also found that at higher levels of distress, help-seeking attitudes improved. The authors theorized that when an individual has severe psychological distress, the psychological “risk” of self-stigma no longer outweighs the potential psychological “benefits” of therapy, thus improving help-seeking attitudes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

“…Psychological distress and self-stigma were regressed onto perceived Islamophobia. The relationship between self-stigma and psychological distress can be difficult to parse without longitudinal methods, with some studies showcasing that self-stigma leads to distress (Cheng et al, 2019; Lin et al, 2016) and others using distress as a moderator (Surapaneni et al, 2019). In line with Vogel et al (2005), we opted to covary the relationship.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A mixed-methods approach to psychological help-seeking in Muslims: Islamophobia, self-stigma, and therapeutic preferences.

McLaughlin¹,

Ahmad²,

Mamani³

2022

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

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Objective: Muslims living in the United States (MLUS) report high mental health stigma. They also underutilize professional psychological help, despite experiencing rising Islamophobia and comparatively poorer mental health. In line with double stigma, we examined whether MLUS who perceived greater Islamophobia also experienced greater self-stigma of seeking help, and whether this was related to negative help-seeking attitudes. We also assessed therapist demographic and treatment modality preferences and explored how they related to risk factors for low help-seeking. Method: Utilizing a representative sample of 350 MLUS (50% women, 33% immigrants) acquired via a Qualtrics panel aggregate, we assessed a path model of help-seeking attitudes to determine the direct and indirect effects of perceived Islamophobia via self-stigma and psychological distress. Therapist and treatment preferences were examined via multiple regression models and analysis of variance (ANOVAs). Open-ended responses were coded through content analysis. Results: Perceived Islamophobia was associated with greater psychological distress and also indirectly related to negative help-seeking attitudes via greater self-stigma. Therapists of a similar background, therapy in a mosque-setting, group therapy, and imam collaboration were more appealing to MLUS who were at risk for low help-seeking. Conclusions: Among MLUS, perceived Islamophobia may present a dual risk-simultaneously increasing psychological distress and indirectly leading to negative attitudes toward help-seeking via higher self-stigma. Conversely, for MLUS at risk for low help-seeking, accessible community-based treatments and treatment with a Muslim or race/ethnicity-matched therapist may facilitate help-seeking behaviors. Future work may determine whether addressing double stigma within Muslim communities (e.g., Islamophobia and self-stigma) may improve psychological help-seeking.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A mixed-methods approach to psychological help-seeking in Muslims: Islamophobia, self-stigma, and therapeutic preferences.

McLaughlin¹,

Ahmad²,

Mamani³

2022

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

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“…Other individuals experiencing high levels of psychological distress may not have recognized their symptoms as part of a treatable health condition, and therefore reported no history of mental disorder/treatment. Future research should better take into account levels of psychological distress (Lannin et al, 2013; Surapaneni et al, 2019) as well as more details about diagnoses and treatment types, given that different mental disorders and treatments are unequally stigmatized (Krendl & Freeman, 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Likewise, past research has shown that individuals with mental disorders respond better to stigma interventions than those with no diagnoses (Saporito et al, 2011). Individuals low in psychological distress show a stronger association between stigma and reluctance to seek help, in part because they lack any motivation to seek mental health care (Surapaneni et al, 2019). We therefore expected the benefits of values affirmation to be stronger for individuals with personal experience of a mental disorder and for individuals reporting higher levels of perceived public stigma, who do not already have unequivocally positive attitudes about mental health treatment.…”

Section: Self-compassion and Stigma Surrounding Mental Disorders And ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of affirming values on self-compassion and mental health treatment stigma.

Glazer¹,

Oleson²,

Campoverde³

et al. 2023

Stigma and Health

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Stigma surrounding mental disorders deters many people from treatment, and prior studies have shown that internalization of stigma is inversely correlated with self-compassion. We examined the effect of a valuesaffirmation task shown to increase state self-compassion on attitudes about mental disorders and their treatment. Participants completed measures of their mental health attitudes and experiences prior to a valuesaffirming writing task or control writing task, and afterward completed measures of state self-compassion, attitudes about mental disorders, and treatment. Participants in the values-affirming condition showed significantly higher state self-compassion and lower levels of desired social distance and internalized stigma toward people with mental disorders, relative to the control condition. Significant interactions also showed that affirmation of values was effective in decreasing internalized treatment stigma and increasing willingness to seek help among those high in perceived public stigma and among those with positive attitudes about treatment. These findings suggest that interventions that focus on affirming values increase self-compassion, reduce stigma surrounding mental disorders, and also reduce stigma about mental health treatment among individuals for whom perceived public stigma is a treatment barrier. Our study extends previous research showing that affirming values increase self-compassionate and pro-social responses, to show that it can help reduce stigmatizing views of mental disorders and their treatment, in both the self and others.

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Efficacy of contact intervention videos on college students’ intentions toward mental health help-seeking

Kruger

Pitts

Denenny³

et al. 2020

Journal of American College Health

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The interaction of stigma and distress: predicting the help-seeking attitudes of United States students

Cited by 3 publications

References 23 publications

A mixed-methods approach to psychological help-seeking in Muslims: Islamophobia, self-stigma, and therapeutic preferences.

A mixed-methods approach to psychological help-seeking in Muslims: Islamophobia, self-stigma, and therapeutic preferences.

Effects of affirming values on self-compassion and mental health treatment stigma.

Efficacy of contact intervention videos on college students’ intentions toward mental health help-seeking

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