The effect of self-construal priming on parental mental health help-seeking attitudes in Hong Kong

Abstract

Studies show that youth mental health services remain underutilized. Given that the parent is identified as the key gatekeeper in the help-seeking process, research on factors affecting parental help-seeking is of utmost importance. Existing literature suggests correlation between culture and self-stigma, and self-stigma as among the most important factors explaining negative help-seeking attitude. This study seeks to explore this relationship, operationalizing culture with the collectivism-individualism value paradigm. 54 parents were primed with collectivist or individualist self-construal, or placed in a control group, then measured for self-construal (SCS), self-stigma for individual help-seeking (SSOSH) and parental help-seeking (adapted-SSOSH), as well as parental help-seeking attitudes (MHSIS). It was expected for participants under the individualist-priming condition to exhibit the highest collectivist self-construal, least self-stigma, most positive help-seeking attitudes. It was also hypothesized for self-construal to predict help-seeking attitudes as mediated by parental help-seeking stigma. Furthermore, self-stigma for parental help-seeking was hypothesized to be greater than for individual help-seeking. No significant differences were found between the three conditions, or between the two conceptualizations of self-stigma. A significant mediation was found with a positive indirect effect, and a negative correlation between parental help-seeking stigma and help-seeking attitudes, in line with previous findings. However, a negative total effect was found, raising questions about the unique elements of Chinese culture and its effects on help-seeking attitudes as well as family social support. As such, it cannot be concluded that Hong Kong culture positively predicts parental help-seeking attitudes, instead it sheds light on important questions to be answered. Further research on the effects of enculturation, family social support, and self-stigma particularly among parents, is required.