Search results for ‘Subject term:"mental health problems"’ Sort:
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Mental health attitudes, self-criticism, compassion and role identity among UK social work students
- Authors:
- KOTERA Yasuhio, GREEN Pauline, SHEFFIELD David
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Social Work, 49(2), 2019, pp.351-370.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Although many social work students suffer from mental health symptoms, the majority of them do not seek help, because of shame. Accordingly, the purposes of this study were to evaluate social work students’ attitudes for mental health problems, and explore relationships among shame, mental health symptoms, self-criticism, self-compassion and role identity. First, eighty-four UK female undergraduate social work students completed a measure of attitudes towards mental health problems, and were compared with ninety-four UK female undergraduate students in other subjects. UK female undergraduate social work students had a higher level of negative perception in their community’s attitudes towards mental health problems. Second, eighty-seven UK social work students completed the attitudes, mental health, self-criticism, self-compassion and role-identity measures. Self-criticism, self-compassion and role identity were significantly related to mental health symptoms and identified as significant, independent predictors of mental health symptoms. This study confirmed that social work students consider that their community perceives mental health problems negatively and that their self-criticism, self-compassion and role identity relate to their poor mental health. The findings may help social work students, educators and researchers to deepen the understanding of their mental health symptoms and identify better solutions. (Publisher abstract)
Factors affecting attitude towards seeking professional help for mental illness: a UK Arab perspective
- Authors:
- HAMID Aseel, FURNHAM Adrian
- Journal article citation:
- Mental Health Religion and Culture, 16(7), 2013, pp.741-758.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
This study examined various factors affecting attitude towards seeking professional psychological help (ATSPPH) in Arabs living in the UK: causal beliefs, shame-focused attitudes, confidentiality concerns, ethnic identity and demographic variables. Participants completed an online questionnaire and results indicated that Arabs showed significantly less positive ATSPPH and had stronger causal beliefs in supernatural and non-Western physiology than British Caucasians. Confidentiality concerns, but not shame-focused attitudes were significant predictors of ATSPPH; confidentiality concerns were more significant for Arabs than for British Caucasians. Implications are drawn from the results. (Publisher abstract)
The impact of combat status on veterans' attitudes toward help seeking: the hierarchy of combat elitism
- Authors:
- ASHLEY Wendy, BROWN Constantine
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Evidence-Informed Social Work, 12(5), 2015, pp.534-542.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Many veterans do not seek assistance for mental health concerns despite the staggering prevalence of trauma-related symptomatology. Barriers to service provision include personal and professional stigma and inter-veteran attitudes that dictate who is more or less deserving of services. Veteran attitudes are shaped by military culture, which promotes a hyper-masculine paradigm upholding combat experience as the defining feature of the “ideal soldier.” The stratification of soldiers into combat or non-combat status creates a hierarchy of combat elitism that extends far beyond active duty. This pilot study surveyed veterans (n = 24) who served in the U.S. military during any war or time period to explore how combat experience may affect attitudes toward help seeking. Findings indicate combat and non-combat veterans are less accepting of non-combat veterans’ help-seeking behaviour, supporting the notion that veterans’ attitudes toward help seeking are influenced by combat status. Despite limitations, the results of this study reflect a need for increased attention to the attitudes veterans have about each other and themselves. (Edited publisher abstract)
An investigation of mental health care delivery from consumers’ perspectives
- Author:
- LEIPERSBERGER Tatjana
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 15(1), 2007, pp.1-21.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
People who are both homeless and suffering from severe mental problems face many difficulties, which are explored in semi-structured interviews with 25 individuals recruited from a mental health centre in a large Midwestern city. The Constant Comparative Method of analysis revealed a range of barriers to engagement with mental health services, including: personal distrust and fear; poverty; the inexperience and high turnover of mental health staff; and societal stigma against homelessness and mental illness. The findings give support to the importance of a single helping individual, and the availability of private space. (Copies of this article are available from: Haworth Document Delivery Centre, Haworth Press Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580).
Gender and attitudes about mental health help seeking: results from National Data
- Authors:
- WENDT Douglas, SHAFER Kevin
- Journal article citation:
- Health and Social Work, 41(1), 2016, pp.e20-e28.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Men often express less emotion than women do, are hesitant to express weakness, and seek professional help much less frequently than do their female counterparts. The lack of help seeking is common across characteristics such as age, race, ethnicity, and nationality. Authors used data from the 2006 General Social Surveys mental health module to suggest that the gender gap in help seeking may be rooted in attitudes regarding help-seeking behaviours generally. Using structural equation modeling, the authors linked vignette type (depression and schizophrenia) to the endorsement of help seeking from informal and formal sources. Men showed similar support for informal help seeking regardless of the problem but were less likely to endorse formal help for depression. Furthermore, men were no more or less likely than women to endorse help seeking if the individual in the vignette was male or female. Results show some support for the hypothesis that men are less prone than women to display positive help-seeking attitudes, particularly related to common mental health issues. This may help researchers and clinicians better understand the numerous barriers to men’s help seeking. (Edited publisher abstract)
Associations among the number of mental health problems, stigma, and seeking help from psychological services: a path analysis model among Chinese adolescents
- Authors:
- CHEN Haide, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 44, 2014, pp.356-362.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Adolescents with mental health problems are likely to refuse to seek help from psychological services. This study aimed to examine whether a greater number of mental health problems were associated with a lower level of willingness to seek help from psychological services among adolescents; and whether the relationship between the number of problems and the willingness to seek help was mediated by self-stigma, public stigma, and attitudes toward help-seeking. A sample of 251 middle and high school students who have had at least one mental health problem was used for the analyses involved in this study. The bivariate correlation analyses showed that adolescents with more mental health problems were likely to report more negative attitudes toward help-seeking and to demonstrate less willingness to seek help. Path analyses showed that the number of problems did not directly influence the willingness to seek help; however, the relationship between these two variables was mediated by self-stigma and attitudes toward help-seeking. Furthermore, willingness to seek help was not directly influenced by the number of internalising and externalising problems. However, the relationship between the number of internalising problems and willingness to seek help was mediated by public stigma, self-stigma and attitudes toward help-seeking; additionally, the relationship between the number of externalising problems and willingness to seek help was mediated by self-stigma and attitudes toward help-seeking, except for public stigma. These findings emphasise the importance of stigma, particularly self-stigma, for adolescents in seeking help from psychological services. (Edited publisher abstract)
General self-efficacy and its relationship to self-reported mental illness and barrier to care: a general population study
- Authors:
- ANDERSSON Lena M.C., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Community Mental Health Journal, 50(6), 2014, pp.721-728.
- Publisher:
- Springer
This study investigates whether general self-efficacy (GSE) was associated with self-reported mental illness and help-seeking behaviour and barriers to care in a randomized population. The study used a mailed questionnaire completed by 3,981 persons aged 19-64 years who resided in Western Sweden. GSE was measured and logistic regression models calculated, controlling for various sociodemographic variables. Results showed that 25 % of men and 43 % of women reported a lifetime prevalence of mental illness that they felt could have benefitted from treatment. Of those, 37 % of the men and 27 % of the women reported barriers to care. Men and women with low GSE were more likely to suffer from mental illness compared with persons high in GSE, but GSE did not enhance help-seeking behaviour or perceived barriers to care. The most prevalent barriers to care for both sexes were beliefs that the illness will pass by itself, doubt whether treatment works, lack of knowledge of where to go and feelings of shame. Overall, GSE scores did not differ among those who experienced various barriers to care with the exception of two barriers only among women. (Edited publisher abstract)
Between a rock and a hard place? Locus of control, religious problem-solving and psychological help-seeking
- Authors:
- ANDREWS Shinquina, SREFURAK James Tres, MEHTA Sheila
- Journal article citation:
- Mental Health Religion and Culture, 14(9), 2011, pp.855-876.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
An in-depth understanding of help-seeking is essential to the proliferation and effective delivery of services in the mental health professions. Drawing on a college and community sample, this study used hierarchical multiple regression to examine the relative contributions of demographic variables, psychological treatment experience, religious service attendance, locus of control, and religious problem-solving style in predicting attitudes towards psychological help-seeking. Participants were recruited from a small public university and church congregations in Alabama. The final sample consisted of 189 participants (80% female; mean age 35.6 years). Women, those holding a graduate degree, and those with treatment experience held more positive attitudes towards psychological help-seeking. While neither the locus of control nor religious problem-solving scales alone were related to help-seeking, several significant interaction effects were observed. God-centred locus of control was a positive predictor of psychological help-seeking, but only for older participants. Chance locus of control was a negative predictor, but only for graduate degree holders. Finally, self-directing religious problem-solving style was a negative predictor, especially for individuals also endorsing a deferring religious problem-solving style. The authors note that the sample largely consisted of educated, religious, African-American women.
Stigma and mental health in the Royal Navy: a mixed methods paper
- Authors:
- LANGSTON Victoria, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Mental Health, 19(1), February 2010, pp.8-16.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- London
US research suggests that military personnel suffering from mental health problems are reluctant to seek help because of stigma. This paper investigates the attitudes and opinions that UK Armed Forces personnel hold about mental health problems. The study aimed to identify the prevalence of mental health stigma beliefs in a UK military sample, and to investigate whether distressed personnel report more stigma than those who are not distressed. The data was collected prior to the introduction of a peer-support system called Trauma Risk Management (TRiM) as part of the baseline investigation of the efficacy of TRiM versus standard care in the management of individuals following traumatic events. The study was mixed methods and comprised questionnaires completed by 1599 naval personnel and one-to-one semi-structured interviews conducted with 61 commissioned officers, 114 non-commissioned senior officers, and 199 non-commissioned junior officers. The results showed that the presence of internal stigma was substantial and significantly higher for distressed personnel. The prevalence of stigma about other people's mental health problems was low. Junior personnel reported being more uncomfortable in discussing emotional issues with their peer group than senior staff. The article concludes that internal stigma is a significant barrier to help seeking within the Royal Navy, especially for distressed personnel. It may be especially problematic for junior personnel who are known to be particularly vulnerable to developing mental health problems.
Help-seeking by foster-carers for their ‘looked after’ children: the role of mental health literacy and treatment attitudes
- Authors:
- BONFIELD Siobain, et al
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Social Work, 40(5), July 2010, pp.1335-1352.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
In this study data on variables likely to be related to help-seeking by foster-carers were collected from a sample of 113 foster-carers and 108 looked after children within the East of England. Findings indicated that while foster-carers had high mental health literacy overall, it did not significantly influence the first help-seeking step of problem detection. More favourable help-seeking attitudes significantly influenced the second help-seeking step of perceived need for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). Data analyses found mental health literacy and help-seeking attitudes, in combination with the presence and impact of a mental health problem, and foster-carer education, to be significant predictors of specific help-seeking. Forty-nine per cent of children were found to have an apparent mental health problem and were not receiving a service from CAMHS. In conclusion, the authors suggest that both mental health literacy and help-seeking attitudes have important roles to play in facilitating CAMHS use by this population.