Dissertation

Facilitating Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Among South Koreans

Hyun, Jung In

2019

Overview

It has been found that there is a gap between service need and utilization in the mental health field in South Korea. This study examined factors that facilitate help- seeking attitudes toward mental health services among South Koreans. Specifically, this study aimed to investigate whether stigma tolerance and family, friends, and societal support/sanction associated with one’s seeking psychological help were facilitating factors that promoted one’s attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help. Participants were 324 South Korean adults living in South Korea (114 males and 210 females; ages range from 19 to 70 years old, M = 39.95, SD = 12.601). Measures that were used in the study included: 1) Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale—Short (ATSPPH-S); 2) Stigma Tolerance Scale (STS); 3) Family, Friends, and Societal Support Scale (FFSS); and 4) Stigma Scale for Receiving Psychological Help (SSRPH). Results of the hierarchical regression analyses revealed that higher levels of stigma tolerance and family and friends support/sanction of receiving professional psychological help predicted more positive attitudes toward seeking help. Neither the mediation nor the moderation analyses produced any significant results. Results of post- hoc mediation analyses indicated that family support and friends support mediated the relationship between stigma tolerance and help-seeking attitudes. In sum, these findings suggest that stigma tolerance and family and friends support/sanction are factors that facilitate Korean’s attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help.

• Publisher: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
• Subject: Attitudes / Clinical psychology / Counseling Psychology / Families & family life / Mediation / Psychology
• ISBN: 9781392029190, 1392029198