Variables Predicting Psychological Help Seeking Attitudes of University Students: Self Stigma, Self Esteem, Willingness to Seek Psychological Help

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Attitudes toward seeking psychological support are influenced by many factors. Recent studies point to a relationship between self stigma, self-esteem and willingness to seek psychological support. As institutions providing psychological support services, universities have a responsibility to increase the quality of the services they provide and also ensure they reach students. This study examines attitudes towards seeking psychological support of 2nd and 3rd year university students (n=586) studying in Faculties of Educational Sciences, Communication and Political Sciences of Ankara University, in the Fall Semester of the 2014-2015 academic year. The variables of self stigma, self-esteem, gender and having received psychological support in the past were undertaken in this study, reflecting the areas of interest in the literature, and the predictive power of these variables in regard to attitudes towards seeking psychological support was investigated. Self Stigma of Seeking Help Scale, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and Attitude Towards Seeking Psychological Help Scale were used to collect the data and students were asked a question as to whether they had received psychological support in the past. Independent samples t-test and multiple regression analysis were used in order to analyze the data The study found that self stigma, self-esteem and gender significantly predict attitudes toward seeking psychological support and variables of gender and receiving psychological support in the past affected the attitudes of individuals in seeking help.

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Self stigma , psychological help seeking , self esteem , university student

Journal Of Uludag University Faculty Of Education

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Journal Of Uludag University Faculty Of Education