Icon Legend

This session is not in your schedule.

This session is in your schedule. Click again to remove it.

Presentation Icons

Recorded Session

Ticketed Session

Back

109 Views

Transdiagnostic

Exploring the Relationship Between Internalized Stigma and Help Seeking Across Help-Seeking Targets and Presenting Problems

(PS11-75) Exploring the Relationship Between Internalized Stigma and Help Seeking Across Help-seeking Targets and Presenting Problems

Saturday, November 16, 2024

2:30 PM – 3:30 PM EST

Location: Franklin Hall, Level 4, Marriott Downtown

Author(s)

Anna G. Kelly, M.A.

Graduate Student
George Mason University
Washington, District of Columbia, United States

Co-Author(s)

NT

Natasha Tonge, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
George Mason University
Fairfax, Virginia, United States

Abstract Text: Self-reported mental health difficulties have been on the rise since the COVID-19 pandemic, with nearly half of Americans experiencing significant symptoms of anxiety and depression and suicide rates increasing sharply. Self-disclosure of mental health symptoms is related to a range of positive outcomes, and seeking help for mental health can be life-saving. Help-seeking for one’s mental health can be impacted by a variety of factors, such as the help-seeking target (eg friend, family member, or professional source), the presenting problem (eg a personal emotional problem vs suicidal ideation), and demographic factors. Internalized stigma of mental illness can also impede help-seeking; however, it is not known if internalized stigma impedes 1) only certain types of problems or 2) help-seeking only from certain targets. This study seeks to fill this gap. We hypothesized that the relationship between internalized stigma and help-seeking would vary based on 1) the help-seeking target and 2) whether someone is seeking help for a personal emotional problem or suicidal thinking. We ran bifactor models with stigma included as a manifest variable predicting help-seeking for suicidal ideation and personal emotional problems (each included as general factors) from three types of disclosure targets (friends/intimate partners, family members, and professional sources, each included as specific factors). Stigma negatively impacted help-seeking for personal/emotional problems from family members (b=-.02, p=.000) and friends/intimate partners (b=-.02, p=.02), but did not significantly impact help-seeking from professional sources (b=.007, p=.12); this model fit the data well (CFI=.988, TLI=.957, RMSEA=.045, SRMR=.020). For suicidal thinking, stigma negatively predicted help seeking from family (b=-.03, p=.000) and friends/intimate partners (b=-.02, p=.000) and marginally negatively predicted help seeking from professional sources (b=-.01, p =.05); this model also demonstrated good fit (CFI=.994, TLI=.978, RMSEA=.041, SRMR=.018). These results indicate that the relationship between internalized stigma and help-seeking is not uniform across help-seeking targets and presenting issues. Planned analysis with a Prolific sample are in progress and will be presented and discussed in comparison to the undergraduate sample.