Date of Award

Spring 6-17-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology (PhD)

Department

Clinical Psychology

First Advisor/Committee Member

Jenny Lee Vaydich, Ph.D.

Second Advisor/Committee Member

Joel Jin, Ph.D.

Third Advisor/Committee Member

Paul Kim, Ph.D.

Fourth Advisor/Committee Member

Sunny Ho, Ph.D.

Abstract

The importance of understanding why individuals decided to engage in mental health care cannot be overstated. This importance is further highlighted in the need to examine the different factors that may help researchers and clinicians to obtain more insight into why populations with a higher demand for mental health services, such as Asian Americans, possess negative attitudes toward seeking mental health care. Stigma has been identified as a significant barrier that influences these attitudes towards help-seeking. Other stigma and self-stigma, in particular, play an important role in understanding why individuals may possess negative views about mental health care help-seeking. With the goal of obtaining a greater understanding of Asian American attitudes toward mental health help-seeking, the author examined the potential mediating roles of self-stigma and perfectionistic self-presentation in the relationship between other stigma and mental health help-seeking attitudes.

In total, two hundred thirty-two predominantly young adult-aged Asian American individuals were studied to examine the potential relationships among other stigma, self-stigma, perfectionistic self-presentation, and attitudes towards mental health help-seeking. A regression analysis and three path serial mediation model suggested that a combination of self-stigma and perfectionistic self-presentation may mediate the relationship between other stigma and attitudes towards mental health help-seeking.

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