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.