University years have been depicted as

critical times of mental health due to more life

changes and more social roles (e.g., partner,
worker) to adapt to (Bee, 1994). However, the
psychological help-seeking behavior was
found to be very low among university
students (Stallman & Shochet, 2009).
Previous research indicated that more
positive attitudes towards seeking
psychological help was related to more help-
seeking behaviour among university students
(Turkum, 2001). It was also indicated that
more self-stigma - the perception that the
person himself/herself is socially
unacceptable if s/he seeks psychological help
(Vogel, Wade & Haake, 2006) -was
associated with more negative attitudes
toward psychological help-seeking (Komiya,
Good & Sheriya, 2000; Vogel, Wester &
Boysen, 2005).
Beliefs toward illness have also been found
to be related with persons help-seeking
behaviours (Kinderman et al., 2006).
However, the role of individuals beliefs on
self-stigma and attitudes toward seeking help
have largely been ignored in the literature.


Beliefs toward Mental Illness Mediates the Relationship Between
Self-Stigma and Attitudes toward Seeking Psychological Help


MERTAN, B., ZEYLEM, F., TFEKOLU, H., GLER . & MANER U.
Eastern Mediterranean University, Psychological Counseling Guidance and Research Center (EMU-PDRAM), North Cyprus.

There was a significant negative association between self-stigma and attitudes toward seeking help, =.-0.54, p=.000. Univertsity
students who had more self-stigma had more negative attitudes toward seeking psychological help.
Self-stigma significantly predicted beliefs toward mental illness =.15, p=.04. Students with greater self-stigma were holding more
negative beliefs toward mental illness.
The relationship between beliefs toward mental illness and attitudes toward seeking help was negative and significant while
controlling for self-stigma =-.18, p =.01. Students who had more negative beliefs demonstrated more negative attitudes toward
seeking psychological help.
Controlling for beliefs toward mental illness, the significant relationship between self-stigma and attitudes toward seeking help led to a
decrease in strength, =.-0.51, p=.000.
A Sobel Test was significant, Z=1.65, p=.05.



0.15 -0.18
-0.51
- 0.54




The total mean score for Beliefs Toward Mental Illness (BMI) was M = 53.76 with SD = 14.79 in a scale score range of 0-105
(see fig.2).
The total mean score for Self-stigma Toward Seeking Help (SSOSH) was M = 22.29 with SD = 6.35 in a scale score range of 0-50.
(see fig.3).
The total mean score for AttitudesToward Seeking Help (ASPH-S) was M = 73.08 with SD = 13.9 in a scale score range of 18-90
(see fig.4).



Participants
A total of 246 (134 female and 112 male)
undergraduate students at a university in Cyprus
participated in the study.
The participants ages ranged between 17 and
30 years (M = 22.35, SD = 3.2).

Measures
Demographic Information Form: was
administered to obtain personal information of
the participants.

Attitudes toward Seeking Psychological Help-
Shortened (ASPH-S). A sample item is I would
want to get psychological help if I were worried
or upset for a long period of time. The score
range was between 18-90 with higher scores
reflecting more positive attitudes.

Beliefs toward Mental Illness Scale (BMI): A
sample item is A mentally ill person is more
likely to harm others than a normal person. The
score range was between 0-105 with higher
scores reflecting more negative beliefs toward
mental illness.

Self-Stigma of Seeking Help Scale (SSOSH) . A
sample item is Seeking psychological help
would make me feel less intelligent. The score
range was between 0-50 with higher scores
reflecting greater self-stigma.

Procedure
The study was a cross-sectional quantitative
study and participants were reached by using
the random sampling method.

Completing the questionnaire took
approximately 30 minutes. The questionnaire
was administered either in group settings in a
classroom or individually at the university
campus.
METHOD
Bee, H. (1994). Lifespan development. New York: Harpercollins College Publishers.
Kinderman, P., Setzu, E., Lobban, F., & Salmon, P. (2006). Illness beliefs in schizophrenia.Social Science and Medicine, 63, 1900 1911.
Komiya, N., Good, G, E. & Sheriya, N. B. (2000). Emotional openness as a predictor of college students' attitudes toward seeking psychological help.
Journal of Counseling Psychology, 47, 138-143.
Stallman, H. M. & Shochet, I. (2009). Prevalence of mental health problems in Australian university health services. Australian Psychologist, 44, 122127.
Trkm, S. (2001). Stresle baa kma biimi, iyimserlik, bilisel arptma dzeyleri ve psikolojik yardm almaya ilikin tutumlar arasndaki ilikiler: niversite rencileri
zerinde bir aratrma. Anadolu niversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 1, 1-16.
Vogel, D. L., Wester S. R., Wei, M. & Boysen, G. A. (2005). The role of outcome expectations and attitudes on decisions to seek professional help. Journal of
Counseling Psychology, 52, 459-470.
Vogel, D. L., Wade, N. G. & Haake, S. (2006). Measuring the self-stigma associated with seeking psychological help. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53, 325337.







RESULTS
REFERENCES
BACKGROUND
This study aims to explore the role of
beliefs toward mental illness on self-
stigma and attitudes towards seeking
psychological help.

AIM
RESEARCH QUESTIONS

How will attitudes and self-stigma toward
seeking psychological help be associated
with each other?

What will be the role of beliefs toward
mental illness on the association between
attitudes and self-stigma towards seeking
psychological help?



SELF-STIGMA TOWARD
SEEKING HELP

BELIEFS TOWARD
MENTAL ILLNESS
ATTITUDES TOWARD
SEEKING HELP
DISCUSSION
The findings have revealed that university
students reported mostly high amounts of positive
attitudes but moderately high amounts of self-
stigma towards seeking psychological help and
moderately negative beliefs toward mental
illnesses.
The findings have contributed to the current
literature suggesting that, greater self-stigma is
associated with more negative attitudes towards
seeking psychological help.
The findings also showed that self-stigma by itself
is probably not the primary reason for the type of
attitudes toward seeking help. That means, not
everyone who had greater self-stigma held more
negative attitudes toward seeking help. Rather,
individuals beliefs toward mental illness also
predicted the association between self-stigma
and attitudes toward seeking help.
The findings implicated for future studies that
positive beliefs toward mental illnesses or
towards mentally ill people should be more
promoted in intervention and/or prevention
programs for reducing self-stigma or negative
attitudes toward seeking help among university
students.
The findings of the study has also provided
implications for mental health literacy programs
for universty students and implications for
University Psychological Counseling Centers
which are mostly the places that university
students initially apply to seek for psychological
help.
Figure 2. The frequency of the total BMI Score

Figure 3. The frequency of the total SSOSH Score

Figure 4. The frequency of the total ASPH-S Score

Figure 1. The Mediation Model for the Association Between Beliefs Toward Mental
Illness, Self-Stigma Toward Seeking Pschological Help and Atitudes Toward Seeking
Help.