Seeking Professional Help: Etiology Beliefs About Mental Illness Across Cultures

Journal of Counseling Psychology

Volumn 55, Issue 4, 2008, Pages 442-450

  Chen, Sylvia Xiaohua ^a   Mak, Winnie W S ^b  

^a HONG KONG POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY   (Hong Kong)

^b CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG   (Hong Kong)

Author keywords

Americans; Chinese; culture; help seeking; lay beliefs

Indexed keywords

EID: 57349187212     PISSN: 00220167     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1037/a0012898     Document Type: Article

References (62)

1. Abe-Kim J., Takeuchi D.T., Hong S., Zane N., Sue S., Spencer M.S., et al. Use of mental health-related services among immigrant and U.S.-born Asian Americans: Results from the National Latino and Asian American Study. American Journal of Public Health 97 (2007) 91-98
2. Alonso J., Angermeyer M.C., Bernert S., Bruffaerts R., Brugha T.S., Bryson H., et al. Use of mental health services in Europe: Results from the European Study of the Epidemiology of Mental Disorders (ESEMeD) project. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 109 Suppl. 420 (2004) 47-54
3. Atkinson D.R., and Gim R.H. Asian-American cultural identity and attitudes toward mental health services. Journal of Counseling Psychology 36 (1989) 209-212
4. Atkinson D.R., Worthington R.L., Dana D.M., and Good G.E. Etiology beliefs, preferences for counseling orientations, and counseling effectiveness. Journal of Counseling Psychology 38 (1991) 258-264
5. Bentler P.M. EQS: Structural equations program manual (1995), Multivariate Software, Encino, CA
6. Boey K.W. Help-seeking preference of college students in urban China after the implementation of the "open-door" policy. International Journal of Social Psychiatry 45 (1999) 104-116
7. Boey K.W., Mei J., Sui Y., and Zeng J. Help-seeking tendency of undergraduate students. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology 6 (1998) 210-215
8. Bond M.H. Emotions and their expression in Chinese culture. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior 17 (1993) 245-262
9. Chang D.F., Tong H., Shi Q., and Zeng Q. Letting a hundred flowers bloom: Counseling and psychotherapy in the People's Republic of China. Journal of Mental Health Counseling 27 (2005) 104-116
10. Chen S.X., Cheung F.M., Bond M.H., and Leung J.P. Decomposing the construct of ambivalence over emotional expression in a Chinese cultural context. European Journal of Personality 19 (2005) 185-204
11. Chiu M.Y.L. Why Chinese women do not seek help: A cultural perspective on the psychology of women. Counseling Psychology Quarterly 17 (2004) 155-166
12. Constantine M.G., Chen E.C., and Cessay P. Intake concerns of racial and ethnic minority students at a university counseling center: Implications for developmental programming and outreach. Journal of Multicultural Counseling & Development 25 (1997) 210-218
13. Dadfar S., and Friedlander M.L. Differential attitudes of international students toward seeking professional psychological help. Journal of Counseling Psychology 29 (1982) 335-338
14. Deane F.P., and Todd D.M. Attitudes and intentions to seek professional psychological help for personal problems or suicidal thinking. Journal of College Student Psychotherapy 10 (1996) 45-59
15. Fang L., and Chen T. Community outreach and education to deal with cultural resistance to mental health services. In: Webb N.B. (Ed). Mass trauma and violence: Helping families and children cope (2004), Guilford Press, New York 234-255
16. Friedman M.J., and West A.N. Current need versus treatment history as predictors of use of outpatient psychiatric care. American Journal of Psychiatry 144 (1987) 355-357
17. Furnham A., and Henley S. Lay beliefs about overcoming psychological problems. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 6 (1988) 423-438
18. Halgin R.P., Weaver D.d., Edell W.S., and Spencer P.G. Relation of depression and help-seeking history to attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help. Journal of Counseling Psychology 34 (1987) 177-185
19. Henley S., and Furnham A. The attribution of cure: Lay beliefs about overcoming problems. British Journal of Clinical Psychology 27 (1988) 384-386
20. Hofstede G. Culture's consequences: International differences in work-related values (1980), Sage, Beverly Hills, CA
21. Hou Z.J., and Zhang N. Counseling psychology in China. Applied Psychology: An International Review 56 (2007) 33-50
22. Iselin M.-G., and Addis M.E. Effects of etiology on perceived helpfulness of treatments for depression. Cognitive Therapy and Research 27 (2003) 205-222
23. Jiang G.-R., and Wang M. A study on help-seeking propensity of Chinese undergraduates. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology 11 (2003) 180-184
24. Kelly A.E., and Achter J.A. Self-concealment and attitudes toward counseling in university students. Journal of Counseling Psychology 42 (1995) 40-46
25. Kessler R.C., Berglund P.A., Zhao S., Leaf P.J., Kouzis A.C., Bruce M.L., et al. The 12-month prevalence and correlates of serious mental illness. In: Manderscheid R.W., and Sonnernschein M.A. (Eds). Mental health, United States, 1996 (1996), U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 59-70 DHHS Publication No. SMA 96-3098
26. Kim B.S.K., and Omizo M.M. Asian cultural values, attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help, and willingness to see a counselor. The Counseling Psychologist 31 (2003) 343-361
27. Kim N.S., and Ahn W.K. The influence of naïve causal theories on lay concepts of mental illness. American Journal of Psychology 115 (2002) 33-65
28. Kung W.W. Chinese American's help seeking for emotional distress. Social Service Review 77 (2003) 111-133
29. Lau A., and Takeuchi D. Cultural factors in help-seeking for child behavior problems: Value orientation, affective responding, and severity appraisals among Chinese American parents. Journal of Community Psychology 29 (2001) 675-692
30. Leong F.T.L. Asian Americans' differential patterns of utilization of inpatient and outpatient public mental health services in Hawaii. Journal of Community Psychology 22 (1994) 82-96
31. Leong F.T.L., and Leach M.M. Internationalising counseling psychology in the United States: A SWOT analysis. Applied Psychology: An International Review 56 (2007) 165-181
32. Lin Y.N. Taiwanese university students' perspectives on helping. Counseling Psychology Quarterly 15 (2002) 47-58
33. Luk C.-L., and Bond M.H. Chinese lay beliefs about the causes and cures of psychological problems. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 11 (1992) 140-157
34. Mak W.W.S., and Chen S.X. Face concern: Its role on stress-distress relationships among Chinese Americans. Personality and Individual Differences 41 (2006) 143-153
35. Mak W.W.S., Chen S.X., Wong E.C., and Zane N.W.S. A psychosocial model of stress-distress relationship among Chinese Americans. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 24 (2005) 422-444
36. Mallinckrodt B., Shigeoka S., and Suzuki L.A. Asian and Pacific Island American students' acculturation and etiology beliefs about typical counseling presenting problems. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology 11 (2005) 227-238
37. Matsuoka J.K., Breaux C., and Ryujin D.H. National utilization of mental health services by Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders. Journal of Community Psychology 25 (1997) 141-145
38. Mechanic, D. (1980). Mental health and social policy. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
39. Ow R., and Katz D. Family secrets and the disclosure of distressful information in Chinese families. Families in Society 80 (1999) 620-628
40. Pearson V. Families in China: An undervalued resource for mental health. Journal of Family Therapy 15 (1993) 163-185
41. Pedersen P., and Leong F.T.L. Counseling in an international context. The Counseling Psychologist 25 (1997) 117-121
42. Quah S.H., and Bishop G.D. Seeking help for illness: The roles of cultural orientation and illness cognition. Journal of Health Psychology 1 (1996) 209-222
43. Regier D.A., Narrow W.E., Rae D.S., Manderscheid R.W., Locke B.Z., and Goodwin F.K. The de facto US mental and addictive disorders service system. Epidemiologic Catchment Area prospective 1-year prevalence rates of disorders and services. Archives of General Psychiatry 50 (1993) 85-94
44. Rudowicz E., and Au E. Help-seeking experiences of Hong Kong social work students. International Social Work 44 (2001) 75-91
45. Savickas M.L. Internationalisation of counseling psychology: Constructing cross-national consensus and collaboration. Applied Psychology: An International Review 56 (2007) 182-188
46. Sensky T. Patients' reactions to illness: Cognitive factors determine responses and are amenable to treatment. British Medical Journal 300 (1990) 622-623
47. Sensky T. Causal attributions of physical illness. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 43 (1997) 565-573
48. Sensky T., and Catalan J. Asking patients about their treatment: Why their answers should not always be taken at face value. British Medical Journal 305 (1992) 1109-1110
49. Snowden L.R., and Cheung F.H. Use of inpatient mental health services by members of ethnic minority groups. American Psychologist 45 (1990) 347-355
50. Stevens J.P. Applied multivariate statistics for the social sciences. 4th ed. (2002), Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ
51. Sue S. Asian American mental health: What we know and what we don't know. In: Dinnel D.L., Lonner W.J., et al. (Eds). Merging past, present, and future in cross-cultural psychology: Selected papers from the Fourteenth International Congress of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology (1999), Swets & Zeitlinger, Lisse, the Netherlands 82-89
52. Sue S., Zane N., and Young K. Research on psychotherapy with culturally diverse populations. In: Garfield S.L., and Bergin A.E. (Eds). Handbook of psychotherapy and behavior change. 4th ed. (1994), John Wiley & Sons, Oxford, England 783-817
53. Takeuchi D.T., Chung R.C., Lin K.M., Shen H., Kurasaki K., Chun C.A., et al. Life-time and twelve-month prevalence rates of major depressive episodes and dysthymia among Chinese Americans in Los Angeles. American Journal of Psychiatry 155 (1998) 1407-1414
54. Tata S.P., and Leong F.T.L. Individualism-collectivism, social-network orientation, and acculturation as predictors of attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help among Chinese Americans. Journal of Counseling Psychology 41 (1994) 280-287
55. Tracey T.J., Leong F.T.L., and Glidden C. Help seeking and problem perception among Asian Americans. Journal of Counseling Psychology 33 (1986) 331-336
56. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services . Mental health: A report of the Surgeon General (1999), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Mental Health Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health, Rockville, MD
57. Veith I. Huang Ti Nei Ching Su Wen [The yellow emperor's classic of internal medicine] (1972), University of California Press, Berkeley, CA
58. Worthington R.L., and Atkinson D.R. Effects of perceived etiology attribution similarity on client ratings of counselor credibility. Journal of Counseling Psychology 43 (1996) 423-429
59. Yeung A., Kung W.W., Chung H., Rubenstein G., Roffi P., Mischoulon D., and Fava M. Integrating psychiatry and primary care improves acceptability to mental health services among Chinese Americans. General Hospital Psychiatry 26 (2004) 256-260
60. Ying Y., and Hu L. Public outpatient mental health services: Use and outcome among Asian Americans. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 64 (1994) 448-455
61. Zhang N., and Dixon D.N. Acculturation and attitudes of Asian international students toward seeking psychological help. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development 31 3 (2003) 205-222
62. Zhang N., Li J., and Yuan Y.G. Investigation of counseling in China. Journal of Health Psychology 9 (2001) 389-391