ABSTRACT
Background
The underuse of psychosocial care services by migrants from Southwest Asian countries residing in countries of the global north warrants systematic investigation. Literature suggests that this underutilization reflects not only structural barriers such as language difficulties, but also more negative attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help compared to residents of Western countries. However, systematic comparisons of such attitudes among individuals with a Turkish migration background in Germany, Turks in Turkey and Germans without a migration background are scarce. Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behaviour, the present study additionally examined stigma, perceived social support, male role norms and relevant sociodemographic covariates as potential factors associated with help-seeking attitudes.
Method
This online cross-sectional study compared attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help and relevant predictors among these three groups (N = 942; n = 296 Germans, n = 271 Turkish migrants, n = 375 Turks in Turkey).
Results
Turkish migrants reported more negative attitudes than Turks in Turkey. There were no differences in the attitudes between Turkish migrants in Germany and Germans. Stigma and male role norms were negatively associated with attitudes toward help-seeking and partially accounted for group differences. Perceived social support showed no consistent effects.
Conclusion
Attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help among Turkish migrants and Turks appear to be more complex than initially predicted. Findings are consistent with the Theory of Planned Behaviour assumptions, suggesting that culturally shaped subjective norms, particularly male role beliefs, may be more central in explaining help-seeking attitudes than group membership alone.