The current research developed ultra-brief (SSOSH-3) and revised (SSOSH-7) versions of the Self-Stigma of Seeking Help scale. Item response theory was used to examine the amount of information each item provided across the latent variable scale and test whether items functioned differently across women and men. In a sample of 857 community adults, results supported removal of three reverse-scored items to create the SSOSH-7. The three most informative items were retained to create the SSOSH-3. Differential item functioning testing supported the use of both versions across women and men. Results replicated in an undergraduate student sample (n = 661). In both samples, the SSOSH-3 (αs = .82-.87) and SSOSH-7 (αs = .87-.89) demonstrated evidence of internal consistency. The SSOSH-3 (rs ≥ .89) and SSOSH-7 (rs ≥ .97) were highly correlated with the original SSOSH across samples and demonstrated significant correlations with help-seeking constructs and in similar magnitude to the original SSOSH.
BerleD.StarcevicV.MosesK.HannanA.MilicevicD.SammutP. (2011). Preliminary validation of an ultra-brief version of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 18(4), 339-346. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.724
2.
BrennerR. E.CornishM. A.HeathP. J.LanninD. G.LosbyM. (2020). Seeking help despite the stigma: Experiential avoidance as a moderated mediator. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 67(1), 132-140. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000365
3.
BrennerR. E.McDermottR. C.HammerJ. H.TuckerJ. R. (2019, August). Measurement Invariance of the Self-Stigma of Seeking Help Scale (SSOSH) [Poster presentation]. 127th Annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
4.
Cepeda-BenitoA.ShortP. (1998). Self-concealment, avoidance of psychological services, and perceived likelihood of seeking professional help. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 45(1), 58-64. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.45.1.58
5.
ChalmersR. P. (2012). mirt: A multidimensional item response theory package for the R environment. Journal of Statistical Software, 48(6), 1-29. https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v048.i06
6.
CizekG. J.BunchM. B. (2007). The Angoff method and Angoff variations. In CizekG. J.BunchM. B. (Eds.), Standard setting (pp. 81-96). Sage.
7.
CornishM. A.BrennerR. E.VogelD. L.WadeN. G. (2019). Evaluation of an online help seeking stigma-reduction intervention for military personnel. Stigma and Health, 4(4), 480-486. https://doi.org/10.1037/sah0000167
8.
DalalD. K.CarterN. T. (2015). Negatively-worded items negatively impact survey research. In LanceC. E.VandenbergR. J. (Eds.), More statistical and methodological myths and urban legends (pp. 112-132). Routledge.
9.
DeVellisR. F. (2016). Scale development: Theory and applications (Vol. 26). Sage.
10.
DrussB. G.BornemannT.Fry-JohnsonY. W.McCombsH. G.PolitzerR. M.RustG. (2008). Trends in mental health and substance abuse services at the nation’s community health centers: 1998-2003. American Journal of Public Health, 98, 126-131. https://doi:10.2105/AJPH.98.Supplement_1.S126
11.
FischerE. H.FarinaA. (1995). Attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help: A shortened form and considerations for research. Journal of College Student Development, 36(4), 368-373. https://doi.org/10.1037/t05375-000
12.
FurukawaT. A.KesslerR. C.SladeT.AndrewsG. (2003). The performance of the K6 and K10 screening scales for psychological distress in the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Well-Being. Psychological Medicine, 33(2), 357-362. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291702006700
13.
HambletonR. K.SwaminathanH.RogersH. (1991). Fundamentals of item response theory. Sage.
14.
HammerJ. H.ParentM. C.SpikerD. A. (2018). Mental Help Seeking Attitudes Scale (MHSAS): Development, reliability, validity, and comparison with the ATSSPH-SF and IASMHS-PO. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 65(1), 74-85. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000248
15.
HammerJ. H.SpikerD. A. (2018). Dimensionality, reliability, and predictive evidence of validity for three help seeking intention instruments: ISCI, GHSQ, and MHSIS. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 65(3), 394-401. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000256
16.
HammerJ. H.VogelD. L.Heimerdinger-EdwardsS. R. (2013). Men’s help seeking: Examination of differences across community size, education, and income. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 14(1), 65-75. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026813
17.
HattieJ. A. (1985). Methodology review: Assessing unidimensionality of a set of test items. Applied Psychological Measurement, 9(2), 139-164. https://doi.org/10.1177/014662168500900204
KeumB. T.HillC. E.KivlighanD. M.Jr.LuY. (2018). Group-and individual-level self-stigma reductions in promoting psychological help-seeking attitudes among college students in helping skills courses. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 65(5), 661-668. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000283
20.
KomiyaN.GoodG. E.SherrodN. B. (2000). Emotional openness as a predictor of college students’ attitudes toward seeking psychological help. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 47(1), 138-143. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-0167.47.1.138
21.
KroenkeK.SpitzerR. L.WilliamsJ. B. (2001). The PHQ-9: Validity of a brief depression severity measure. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 16(9), 606-613. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.2001.016009606.x
22.
KroenkeK.SpitzerR. L.WilliamsJ. B. (2003). The Patient Health Questionnaire-2: Validity of a two-item depression screener. Medical Care, 41(11), 1284-1292. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.MLR.0000093487.78664.3C
23.
LanninD. G.GuyllM.VogelD. L.MadonS. (2013). Reducing the stigma associated with seeking psychotherapy through self-affirmation. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 60(4), 508-519. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033789
24.
LanninD. G.VogelD. L.BrennerR. E.AbrahamT. W.HeathP. J. (2016). Does self-stigma reduce the probability of seeking mental health information?Journal of Counseling Psychology, 63(3), 351-358. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000108
25.
McDermottR. C.LevantR. F.HammerJ. H.BorgognaN. C.McKelveyD. K. (2019). Development and validation of a five-item male role norms inventory using bifactor modeling. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 20(4), 467-477. https://doi.org/10.1037/men0000178
26.
MitchellA. J. (2019). Screening for psychosocial distress and psychiatric disorders in medicine: From concepts to evidence. In GrassiL.RibaM. B.WiseT. (Eds), Person centered approach to recovery in medicine (pp. 57-78). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74736-1_4
27.
MitchellA. J.CoyneJ. C. (2007). Do ultra-short screening instruments accurately detect depression in primary care? A pooled analysis and meta-analysis of 22 studies. British Journal of General Practice, 57(535), 144-151.
28.
NakashR. A.HuttonJ. LJørstad-SteinE. C.GatesS.LambS. E. (2006). Maximising response to postal questionnaires: A systematic review of randomised trials in health research. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 6(1), Article 5. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-6-5
29.
PattynE.VerhaegheM.SercuC.BrackeP. (2014). Public stigma and self-stigma: Differential association with attitudes toward formal and informal help seeking. Psychiatric Services, 65(2), 232-238. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201200561
30.
PedersonE. L.VogelD. L. (2007). Male gender role conflict and willingness to seek counseling: Testing a mediation model on college-aged men. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 54(4), 373-384. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.54.4.373
31.
R Core Team. (2013). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. http://www.R-project.org/
ReustC. E.ThomlinsonR. P.LattieD. (1999). Keeping or missing the initial behavioral health appointment: A qualitative study of referrals in a primary care setting. Families, Systems, & Health, 17(4), 399-411. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0089892
34.
RolstadS.AdlerJ.RydénA. (2011). Response burden and questionnaire length: Is shorter better? A review and meta-analysis. Value in Health, 14(8), 1101-1108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jval.2011.06.003
35.
SamejimaF. (1997). Graded response model. In van der LindenW. J.HambletonR. K. (Eds.), Handbook of modern item response theory (pp. 85-100). Springer.
36.
SeidmanA. J.LanninD. L.HeathP. J.VogelD. L. (2019). Setting the stage: The effect of affirming personal values before psychotherapy intake screenings on perceptions of self-stigma and self-disclosure. Stigma and Heath, 4(3), 256-259. https://doi.org/10.1037/sah0000140
37.
SeidmanA. J.WadeN. G.VogelD. L.Armistead-JehleP. (2019). The impact of stigma on behavioral health care utilization among active duty service members. Military Psychology, 31(1), 11-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/08995605.2018.1522927
SmithG. T.McCarthyD. M.AndersonK. G. (2000). On the sins of short-form development. Psychological Assessment, 12(1), 102-111. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.12.1.102
TuckerJ. R.HammerJ. H.VogelD. L.BitmanR. L.WadeN. G.MaierE. J. (2013). Disentangling self-stigma: Are mental illness and help-seeking self-stigmas different?Journal of Counseling Psychology, 60(4), 520-531. https://doi.org/10.1037/e631712012-001
42.
VogelD. L.ArmstrongP. I.TsaiP. C.WadeN. G.HammerJ. H.EfstathiouG.HolthamE.KouvarakiE.LiaoH. Y.ShechtmanZ.TopkayaN. (2013). Cross-cultural validity of the Self-Stigma of Seeking Help (SSOSH) scale: Examination across six nations. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 60(2), 303-310. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032055
43.
VogelD. L.BitmanR. L.HammerJ. H.WadeN. G. (2013). Is stigma internalized? The longitudinal impact of public stigma on self-stigma. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 60(2), 311-316. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031889
44.
VogelD. L.StrassH. A.HeathP. J.Al-DarmakiF. R.ArmstrongP. I.BaptistaM. N.BrennerR. E.GonçalvesM.LanninD. G.LiaoH-YMackenzieC. S.MakW. W. S.RubinM.TopkayaN.WadeN. G.WangY. F.ZlatiA. (2017). Stigma of seeking psychological services: Examining college students across ten countries/regions. The Counseling Psychologist, 45(2), 170-192. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000016671411
45.
VogelD. L.WadeN. G.HaakeS. (2006). Measuring the self-stigma associated with seeking psychological help. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53(3), 325-337. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.53.3.325
46.
WadeN. G.PostB. C.CornishM. A.VogelD. L.TuckerJ. R. (2011). Predictors of the change in self-stigma following a single session of group counseling. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 58(2), 170-182. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022630
47.
WeeksJ. P. (2010). plink: An R package for linking mixed-format tests using IRT-based methods. Journal of Statistical Software, 35(12), 1-33. https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v035.i12
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
