Stigma and attitudes toward seeking counseling among undergraduate students

Abstract EN

Mental health is important for university students’ well-being and their ability to cope with challenges in university and in life generally.

Students may experience psychological distress due to mental illness or common problems such as academic concerns.

However, there is a service gap between students with psychological distress and those who actually seek counseling.

This is a serious problem because persistent psychological distress can impair students’ academic achievements and overall life potentials.

Stigma of seeking counseling are one of the most cited barriers that impede university students from seeking counseling.

Therefore, it is important to understand the role of stigma in relation to attitudes toward seeking counseling.

There are two objectives of this study: to examine the relationship between three types of stigma (public stigma, close-others stigma, and self-stigma) and attitudes toward seeking counseling, and to determine the significant predictor of attitudes toward seeking counseling.

A random sample of 327 undergraduate students was recruited from one public university in Malaysia.

This correlational study found that there is a significant negative relationship between every type of stigma and attitudes toward seeking counseling.

The selfstigma was found as the significant predictor of attitudes toward seeking counseling.