Philippine E-Journals

The Effect of Stigma on Attitudes toward Seeking School Counseling Help among Chinese High School Students

Pan Ze | Aime T. Guarino

 

Abstract:

Public stigma and self-stigma have been implicated as factors in the underutilization of counseling. Chinese school counseling services are also underutilized, yet Chinese scholars know little about the role of stigma on attitude toward seeking school counseling help among its students. This study thus replicated the work by Vogel, Wade, and Hackler (2007) to examine the relationship between public stigma of mental health services, self-stigma of seeking help and attitude toward seeking school counseling help among a sample of 340 Chinese high school students. Results indicated that public stigma of mental health services is internalized as self-stigma of seeking help and is negatively related to attitude toward seeking school counseling help. In conclusion, self-stigma of seeking help mediates the relationship between public stigma of mental health services and attitude toward seeking school counseling help.