Overall Life Satisfaction and Help‐Seeking Attitudes of Turkish College Students in the United States: Implications for College Counselors

This study examined the effects of acculturation, beliefs about mental illness, and selected demographic variables on the help‐seeking attitudes of 120 Turkish students who were attending college in the United States. The authors maintain that if mental health professionals increase their understanding of Turkish international students, they can then develop more effective services for this population.     

Development and validation of ageist myths in a psychotherapy questionnaire (AMPQ): professional ageism among psychology graduate students

ABSTRACT

Ageism is a problem in aging societies. Clinical psychologists and undergraduate psychology students have shown negative attitudes toward older adults. However, no speci?c measure against ageist myths in the psychotherapeutic context is available. This study aims to develop and present the psychometric properties of the Ageist Myths about Psychotherapy Questionnaire (AMPQ).

These issues were examined by surveying 222 psychology graduates at higher education institutions about their attitudes and behaviors concerning psychotherapy with older adults, negative stereotypes toward aging, and attitudes toward dementia.

Using principal components analysis, 10 items were retained and one factor was obtained with an acceptable reliability index. Signi?cant associations were found between the AMPQ and negative stereotypes toward aging, and attitudes toward dementia.

Results revealed that universities and colleges with psychology programs have an ageist bias. Implications for college formation in aging, and older adults with mental health problems, are discussed and presented.     

Student-Athletes’ Perceptions of Mental Illness and Attitudes Toward Help-Seeking

Given that there is evidence that college student-athletes may be at risk for psychological disturbances (Pinkerton, Hintz, & Barrow, 1989), and possibly underutilizing college mental health services (Watson & Kissinger, 2007), the purpose of this study was to examine attitudes toward mental illness and help seeking among college student-athletes compared to college student nonathletes. The roles that athletic identity and gender play in treatment-seeking comfort were examined. Contrary to what was hypothesized, the results showed that student-athletes and nonathletes did not significantly differ in willingness to seek mental health treatment. Student-athletes perceived significantly less discrimination toward individuals based on mental illness status.     

Defining Mental Illness: The Relationship Between College Students' Beliefs About the Definition of Mental Illness and Tolerance

The current study investigated the relationship between college undergraduate students' beliefs about the definition of mental illness and their tolerance toward individuals with mental illnesses. Undergraduate students (N = 102) in courses in the College of Education at a large midwestern university were given a questionnaire designed to determine their beliefs about what constitutes a mental illness along with the Community Attitudes Toward the Mentally Ill questionnaire (CAMI). Significant correlations were found between the breadth of their definition of mental illness and their tolerance toward individuals with mental illnesses. Those students with broad and inclusive definitions of mental illness had more benevolent, less authoritarian, and less socially restrictive attitudes toward individuals with mental illnesses.     

Mental Health Stigma,Self-Concealment,and Help-Seeking Attitudes among Asian American and European American College Students with No Help-Seeking Experience

The present study examined whether mental health stigma (i.e., negative attitudes toward people with a psychological disorder) and self-concealment are unique predictors of help-seeking attitudes in Asian American and European American college students with no history of seeking professional psychological services. The Asian American group had less favorable help-seeking attitudes overall, lower levels of stigma tolerance and interpersonal openness, greater mental health stigma, and greater self-concealment than the European American group. Mental health stigma and self-concealment were unique predictors of help-seeking attitudes overall in both groups. However, mental health stigma was not a unique predictor of recognition of need for psychotherapeutic help and confidence in mental health practitioners, the components of help-seeking attitudes theorized to be most associated with actual help-seeking behavior. Self-concealment was a unique predictor of confidence in mental health practitioners in the Asian American group, but not in the European American group.     

An Exploration of Motivations of Fine Art Students in Relation to Mental and Physical Well-Being

College art students are an overlooked minority population whose culture, career motivations, and mental health risks have not been studied, and there has been little to no specialized outreach to this population. This article describes the stereotypes associated with fine art students and the data available that confirms or refutes those stereotypes. It then reports an initial investigation of fine artists that assesses their mental and physical health as well as their career motivations. The discussion focuses on the implications for college counseling centers.     

HEALTH CARE EDUCATORS’ KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES REGARDING SEXUALITY IN THE AGED

Health care providers’ knowledge of and attitudes toward sexuality in older adults may have an impact on the overall quality of care they provide to older clients. One place to begin improving the knowledge and attitudes of health care professionals may be health care educators. If educators have accurate knowledge and positive attitudes, they can help their students acquire accurate knowledge and develop positive attitudes. Forty‐two health care educators in a large community college completed a sexuality knowledge and attitude scale. The study attempted to determine the extent of the educators’ knowledge of sexuality in the aged, their attitudes toward it, the relationship between sexual knowledge and attitudes, and the relationship of knowledge and attitudes to certain personal / demographic variables and professional / experiential factors. The results indicated that the health care educators had limited knowledge regarding aged sexuality but held positive attitudes toward it. No significant relationship was found between knowledge and attitudes. Older health care educators and educators who had participated in continuing education related to sexuality possessed more knowledge about aged sexuality. Educators who rated themselves as more religious held more restrictive attitudes.     

Examining Personal,Perceived, Treatment,and Self-Stigma in College Students: The Role of Parent Beliefs and Mental Health Literacy

ABSTRACT

Although college student mental health concerns are on the rise, many struggling students do not seek psychological treatment when needed. Stigma toward psychological treatment has been demonstrated to influence intent to seek treatment in college student populations. This study aimed to identify factors that predict treatment stigma in college students by examining other forms of student-held stigma, parent-held stigma, and mental health literacy. Results indicated that student-held personal, perceived, and self-stigma all predicted student attitudes toward treatment, while parent-held personal stigma was found to predict self-stigma in students. Those individuals who had received previous education about psychological disorders had lower levels of personal stigma, and, surprisingly, higher levels of self-stigma. Implications for campus outreach programming are discussed.     

Initial Evaluation of Active Minds: A Student Organization Dedicated to Reducing the Stigma of Mental Illness

This study examined whether a new student organization, Active Minds, aimed at increasing awareness of “mental illness” and reducing stigma had an impact on students' stigma and willingness to seek psychological help. Three classes were recruited to become involved in the organization. In a pretest/posttest design, stigma and willingness to seek psychological help were compared between students who became involved in Active Minds and students who did not. Students involved in the organization showed a significant reduction in stigma if they had a history of mental illness in their families. However, willingness to seek psychological help was unaffected. The program's partial success is viewed in terms of empowerment and recovery. The peer support provided through Active Minds may help change people's negative attitudes about mental illness and encourage students to help one another in coping with their diagnoses.     

心理疾病污名的结构:基于IAT的测量

以63名大学生为被试,采用内隐联想测验对心理疾病污名的结构进行研究。结果发现,负面刻板印象、负性情绪体验以及消极行为倾向的IAT效应显著,并且三者之间相关显著。本研究证实心理疾病污名主要由负面刻板印象、负性情绪体验以及消极行为倾向三个成分构成。     

843名高职大专新生心理卫生状况调研

目的：调查研究某高职院校大专新生的心理卫生状况。方法：采用精神症状自评量表(SCL-90)，对此高职院校843名2003级大专新生进行调查分析。结果：被试中至少有一个SCL-90因子的得分大于或等于3的学生占13．40％；总体上，参加此次调研的高职大专新生心理卫生水平高于全国大学生，低于国内正常人群和四川大学生；女生、贫困生、农村学生、非独生子女、非学生干部学生心理卫生问题较为突出。结论：高职大专新生心理卫生问题不容忽视。     

Self‐stigma and domains of well‐being in high school youth: Associations with self‐efficacy,self‐esteem,and self‐criticism

Self‐stigma is a phenomenon in which negative public stereotypes about mental illness are internalized and can undermine help‐seeking. Unfortunately, little is known about how self‐stigmatization relates to positive well‐being indicators among youth. A sample of 134 high school students completed established measures of self‐stigma, well‐being, self‐esteem, self‐efficacy, and self‐criticism. Analyses confirmed that self‐stigma was associated with overall well‐being and five well‐being subscales (autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations, and self‐acceptance); the strongest associations were with autonomy and positive relations with others. The majority of these associations still held when simultaneously controlling for self‐esteem, self‐efficacy, and self‐criticism. Taken together, findings point to the need for greater awareness of self‐stigma along with an explicit focus on the promotion of protective well‐being in prevention work and interventions designed to alleviate the tendency for young people to internalize stigma. Additionally, findings have theoretical implications for the “why try” model of self‐stigma.     

Moral Development,HIV/AIDS Knowledge,and Attitude toward HIV/AIDS among Counseling Students in the United States

People living with HIV/AIDS will likely require services from mental health professionals to address the complex psychosocial effects of the illness. In the United States, counseling students are not likely to be well prepared to serve clients affected by HIV/AIDS, and little is known about their HIV-related knowledge and attitudes. The present study assessed the moral development, HIV/AIDS knowledge, and attitudes toward HIV/AIDS among a national sample of counseling students in the United States. Results indicated that students held biases toward people living with HIV/AIDS and that their attitudes toward HIV/AIDS were inversely related to their level of moral development.     

论留守经历对大学生的心理影响

为了调查留守经历对大学生心理健康水平和人格特质的影响状况。采用自编调查问卷和大学生心理健康测评系统(CSPA)中的心理健康量表(CCSMHS)和人格量表(CCSPS)对673名有留守经历的学生和704名普通大学生进行对比研究。结果表明父母双方外出留守的比例最高(47.92%),且随着孩子年龄的增长比例增大;有留守经历的学生与普通学生在健康量表多个因子上存在显著差异,在人格量表的率真、重情因子上存在显著差异。留守经历对大学生的心理健康产生一定程度影响,学校应充分发挥思想政治教育在这部分同学成长中的功能和作用,提高学生心理健康素质,减少心理症状的发生。     

A Psychology Fulbright Year in China

This article shares a series of personal observations and anecdotes about central issues in college mental health in China based on my Fulbright year there. There are many cultural and structural forces that both support and constrain the growth of the mental health field in China. This article addresses these forces in terms of their impact on college student psychotherapy and the broader mental health of Chinese college students.     

Interagency collaboration between child protection and mental health services: practices, attitudes and barriers

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this paper is to examine some of the factors that facilitate and hinder interagency collaboration between child protection services and mental health services in cases where there is a parent with a mental illness and there are protection concerns for the child(ren). The paper reports on agency practices, worker attitudes and experiences, and barriers to effective collaboration. METHOD: A self-administered, cross-sectional survey was developed and distributed via direct mail or via line supervisors to workers in statutory child protection services, adult mental health services, child and youth mental health services, and Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) Teams. There were 232 completed questionnaires returned, with an overall response rate of 21%. Thirty-eight percent of respondents were statutory child protection workers, 39% were adult mental health workers, 16% were child and youth mental health workers, and 4% were SCAN Team medical officers (with 3% missing data). RESULTS: Analysis revealed that workers were engaging in a moderate amount of interagency contact, but that they were unhappy with the support provided by their agency. Principle components analysis and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) on items assessing attitudes toward other workers identified four factors, which differed in rates of endorsement: inadequate training, positive regard for child protection workers, positive regard for mental health workers, and mutual mistrust (from highest to lowest level of endorsement). The same procedure identified the relative endorsement of five factors extracted from items about potential barriers: inadequate resources, confidentiality, gaps in interagency processes, unrealistic expectations, and professional knowledge domains and boundaries. CONCLUSIONS: Mental health and child protection professionals believe that collaborative practice is necessary; however, their efforts are hindered by a lack of supportive structures and practices at the organizational level.     

Sexism,homophobia and transphobia in a sample of Italian pre-service teachers: the role of socio-demographic features

Although recent research has highlighted that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youths represent a resilient population, they still suffer from social stigma and oppression, being potentially at additional risk of developing negative mental health outcomes. One of the main environments where violence and harassment against this population are present is the school. Within school contexts, the impact that teachers can have on the educational experiences of LGBT youths seems to be a crucial point. This paper explored sexist, homophobic and transphobic attitudes among 438 pre-service teachers in relation to specific socio-demographic features. Results indicated that being male, heterosexual, conservative and currently religious were positively associated with sexist, homophobic, and transphobic attitudes and feelings, and having a LGBT friend was negatively associated with homophobic and transphobic attitudes and feelings. These results suggest the need to introduce specific training on the deconstruction of gender and sexual stereotypes and prejudices, to provide teachers with efficient tools to address diversity in the classrooms and to implement inclusive school policies. Suggestions for the implementation of good practices are provided.     

大学生创伤后应激障碍的发生特点及教育的启示

近年来,大学生心理障碍、心理危机事件的发生率呈快速上升的趋势,加强对大学生心理健康问题的研究具有现实意义。本研究以辽宁省三个城市医科院校大学生为样本,探讨大学生创伤后应激障碍的发生特点,并为大学生心理健康工作提供教育建议。     

College/University Counseling Centers Supporting Study Away: Challenges and Opportunities

Research points to significant numbers of students on college campuses experiencing mental health distress and an ever increasing number of college students who are choosing to make an off-campus educational experience a part of their college careers. When we consider both of these trends together, it is quite apparent that a significant number of students with mental health concerns will spend periods of time studying away from campus, with converging concerns among college mental health and study away professionals about how to best support these students. This article seeks to outline both challenges and opportunities inherent in the collaboration between campus professionals in supporting students with mental health issues before and during their study away experiences.