In spite of the development of medical services in Asian countries, mental illness and mental health services remain a stigma. An awareness of the causes and consequences of mental illness is also lacking. Since the 1990s, much work has been done in Malaysia to advance the people's concepts about the scientific approach to mental illness and to…

Within the mental health treatment field there is an underutilization of services by Asian Americans. Researchers have questioned how to lessen the gap between the number of Asian Americans who need mental health services and the significantly lower number who successfully use these services. A review of current research points out that matching…

This report reviews the literature on the prevalence, treatment, and consequences of depression in low-income women with an emphasis on the relationship between depression and employment. Recent changes in welfare policy, such as the five-year lifetime limit on assistance and requiring recipients to obtain jobs after two years of continuous…

Used 3 X 2 X 2 factorial design to study effects of acculturation (low, medium, or high), counselor ethnicity (Anglo-American or Mexican-American) and counseling style (directive or nondirective) on 169 Mexican-American subjects' perceptions of and willingness to see counselor. Subjects gave higher credibility ratings and were more willing to see…

High school students (N=893) completed questionnaires on peer counseling program in these areas: characteristics of students who meet with peer counselor, types of problems students discuss in first meeting, satisfaction with peer counseling, and perceived helpfulness of the service. Found that girls and sophomores were heaviest users of peer…

This study of 16 learning-disabled high school students in algebra classes found that their help-seeking behavior was similar to that of 16 normal-achieving peers, differing only in that subjects sought instrumental help from peers significantly more often than from the teacher. (Author/JDD)

A study of 71 individuals with specific learning disabilities and moderate to high vocational success revealed commonalities in the ways they were able to achieve, including a strong desire for success, goal orientation, ability to interpret the disability experience, persistence, selection of an appropriate work environment, learned creativity,…

Through hierarchical linear modeling, student reports of the avoidance of help seeking were related to student and classroom characteristics of 516 sixth graders. Avoidance of help seeking was related negatively to academic efficacy, but was less strongly related to academic efficacy in classrooms where teachers thought they should tend to…

Undergraduates' attitudes toward engaging in psychotherapy and experiences with therapy were evaluated (N=388). The survey is presented and discussed. Data were related to MMPI-2 scores and the Butcher treatment Planning Inventory to determine whether symptom expression is related to a reluctance to seek therapy. Results show a varied openness to…

A questionnaire developed to measure barriers to help-seeking behavior in adolescents was tested with 280 high school students following a pilot study. The instrument, Barriers to Adolescents Seeking Help, was found to have good test-retest reliability and adequate validity. Its use in identifying adolescents amenable to or resistant to therapy is…

Survey of 300 undergraduates assesses emotional competence, hopelessness, willingness to seek help from health professionals and nonprofessionals, and perceived usefulness of past help-seeking experience. Results reveal that those who felt less skilled at managing emotions were less willing to seek help from family and friends for emotional…

Reports on research with four focus groups of 17-year-old girls of different education levels, about their need, expectations, and attitudes concerning contraceptives. Determined: (1) the school physician is not the person they want to seek help from; (2) peer influence is very important; and (3) girls expect confidentiality from their family…

Explored the developmental nature of learning styles among young African American children. Children's help-seeking behaviors were observed, coded, and tallied. Type of help solicitation significantly affected help source. Age and kind of activity did not significantly affect help source. Children approached teachers more than peers for social…

Attitudes towards receiving professional services were measured among Italian American and Greek American college students (N=232) attending schools in the Northeast. Italian American women had greater recognition of the need for help and increased confidence in counseling than the men did. Greek women were also more willing to seek counseling.…

Investigates the relationship between stressful life change events and coping strategies, and high school completion status among early adolescents. Discriminant analysis was used to build a prediction model and indicated that the coping factors of Social Activities and Seeking Professional Support significantly predicted high school dropout…