Predictors of Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Among Kuwait University Students

The purpose of this study was: (1) to investigate Kuwait University (KU) students' attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help; and (2) to investigate if family, friends, and societal support played a role in the student's decision to seek professional psychological help as measured by the Family, Friends, and Societal Support Scale (FFSS), which was developed by the author. Other assessment tools used in the study included: (1) Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale (ATSPPHS) as developed by Fischer and Turner (1970); (2) Orientation Toward Utilization of Social Resources (OTUSR) as developed by Vaux, Burda, and Stewart (1986); (3) a modified Life Stress Events Scale (LSE) based on 18 items selected from the 43 items Social Readjustment Scale published by Holmes and Rahe (1967); and (4) Demographic Data Sheet (DDS). A total of 529 participants completed all five assessment tools. The results indicated that KU students have less favorable attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help than groups studied by other researchers. The results also supported previous research, which found females, in general, to have more favorable attitudes toward seeking professional help than males. Individuals who received previous counseling were more likely to have favorable attitudes toward seeking professional help than those who did not receive such help. Students who majored or minored in psychology had more favorable attitudes toward counseling than those who were not psychology majors or minors. The newly developed scale, FFSS, was an effective predictor of KU students' attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help and explained more variance in ATSPPHS scores than any other predictors used in the study.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph. D.

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Counseling and Counselor Education

Department dc:contributor.department

Counseling and Counselor Education

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2001

Author dc:creator

• Al-Rowaie, Odah O.

Chairs dc:contributor.committeechair

• Madison-Colmore, Octavia D.
• Cross, Lawrence H.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Hohenshil, Thomas H.
• Skovholt, Thomas M.
• Roberto, Karen A.

• Psychotherapy
• Counseling Psychology
• Mental Health Services
• Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Help
• Kuwait University Students
• Social Support
• Family and Societal Support for Seeking Help
• Life Stress Events
• Counselor Education

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Dc Identifier Other

etd-12192001-172305

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/30166