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Contents
- Abstract
- Study 1: Scale Construction
- Method
- Participants
- Procedure
- Item Development
- Results and Discussion
- Item Selection
- Reliability and Factor Structure
- Study 2: Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Construct and Criterion Validity
- Method
- Participants
- Procedure
- Measures
- Self-Stigma of Seeking Help (SSOSH) scale
- Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale (ATSPPHS)
- Intentions to Seek Counseling Inventory (ISCI)
- Disclosure Expectations Scale (DES)
- Social Stigma for Seeking Psychological Help (SSRPH) scale
- Results and Discussion
- Reliability and Confirmation of the Factor Structure
- Examining the Effects of Including Reverse-Keyed Items
- Construct and Criterion Validity
- Predicting Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Help
- Predicting Intent to Seek Counseling for Psychological and Interpersonal Problems
- Study 3: Test–Retest Reliability and Cross-Validation
- Method
- Participants
- Procedure
- Measures
- Marlowe–Crowne Social Desirability Scale, Form XI
- Previously used measures
- Results and Discussion
- Reliability
- Construct and Criterion Validity
- Study 4: Further Cross-Validation
- Method
- Participants
- Procedure
- Measures
- Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES)
- Hopkins Symptoms Checklist–21 (HSCL-21)
- Distress Disclosure Index (DDI)
- Self-Concealment Scale (SCS)
- Use of psychological services
- Previously used measures
- Results and Discussion
- Construct and Criterion Validity
- Predicting Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Help
- Predicting Intent to Seek Counseling
- Study 5: Predicting Help-Seeking Behavior
- Method
- Participants
- Procedure
- Results and Discussion
- General Discussion
- Implications and Directions for Future Research
- Limitations
Figures and Tables
Abstract
Self-stigma is an important factor in people's decisions not to engage in therapy. To measure this construct, the authors developed the 10-item Self-Stigma of Seeking Help (SSOSH) scale. In Study 1 (n = 583), the SSOSH had a unidimensional factor structure and good reliability (.91) among participants. Study 2 (n = 470) confirmed the factor structure. Studies 2, 3 (n = 546), and 4 (n = 217) cross-validated the reliability (.86 to .90; test–retest, .72) and showed evidence of validity (construct, criterion, and predictive) across the study samples. The SSOSH uniquely predicted attitudes toward and intent to seek psychological help. Finally, in Study 5 (n = 655) the SSOSH differentiated those who sought psychological services from those who did not across a 2-month period.
An unsettling paradox exists in counseling psychology and related mental health fields. Decades of psychotherapy research have revealed that psychological treatments are effective for a broad...