Differential Effects of Parental and Self-Stigma on Intentions to Seek Counseling

Abstract

Using hierarchical regression, the authors investigated the hypotheses that parental stigma and self-stigma would differentially and negatively predict intentions to seek counseling for European American (n = 318), Asian American (n = 153), and Asian international students. (n = 312). In this online cross-sectional study, parental stigma positively predicted intentions to seek counseling among Asian international students. The magnitude of this association was significantly greater than it was among European and Asian American students. As expected, self-stigma negatively predicted intentions to seek counseling among European and Asian American students. The magnitude of this association was significantly greater for European American students than it was for Asian international students, for whom self-stigma was not a significant predictor of intentions to seek counseling. This research suggests that the processes through which (a) stigma is felt and (b) stigma impacts psychological help seeking may be associated with one’s ethnicity and culture of origin.