When prayer is not enough: The mediating role of mental health literacy and stigma for religious individuals' help-seeking attitudes
- WCU Author/Contributor (non-WCU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Wiliam Charles Blevins (Creator)
- Institution
- Western Carolina University (WCU )
- Web Site: http://library.wcu.edu/
- Advisor
- Jonathan Campbell
Abstract: Many individuals who suffer from psychological distress and mental illness experience barriers to seeking help, including an individual’s level of mental health literacy and self-stigma of seeking help. Religious individuals have been observed to hold more negative attitudes towards seeking help, yet there is limited research exploring how mental health literacy (MHL) and self-stigma of seeking help as possible may explain this relationship. This study is aimed to investigate the relationship between religiosity and attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help, specifically addressing mental health literacy and self-stigma of seeking help in a serial mediation effects model. A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 278 adults (mean age = 27.47). Participants completed surveys assessing their religiosity, attitudes towards receiving professional psychological services, MHL, and self-stigma of seeking help. Findings revealed a significant negative direct effect of religiosity onto attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help (ß = -0.10, SE = .04, p < .05, 95% CI [-0.18, -0.02]). However, findings also show a positive significant indirect effect of religiosity on attitudes towards seeking professional psychological assistance through the mediators of MHL and self-stigma (ß = .04, BootstrapSE = .01, Bootstrap95% CI [0.01, 0.06]). Whereas individuals reported being more religious were more likely to have more mental health literacy and thus less self-stigma of seeking help. In turn, participants were more likely to have positive attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help. The results of this study highlight the intricate relationships between religiosity and attitudes towards seeking professional psychological assistance. Mental health providers should focus on the importance of MHL and self-stigma in their effects of religious individuals’ attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help. Adapting approaches to religious individuals through way of increasing MHL and finding similarities or supplemental benefits of mental health practices in religious individuals’ lives.
When prayer is not enough: The mediating role of mental health literacy and stigma for religious individuals' help-seeking attitudes
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Created on 4/1/2024
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Thesis
- Language: English
- Date: 2024
- Subjects
- Mental health
- Religious adherents
- Religious adherents--Mental health
- Mental health education
- Stigma (Social psychology)