Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Email this article to a Colleague Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My Articles & Searches Download to citation manager Articles by Golberstein, E. Articles by Gollust, S. E. PubMed Citation Articles by Golberstein, E. Articles by Gollust, S. E. Stigma, Discrimination Access to Services

Perceived Stigma and Help-Seeking Behavior: Longitudinal Evidence From the Healthy Minds Study

Dr. Golberstein is with the Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, 180 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA 02115 (e-mail: golberstein{at}hcp.med.harvard.edu). Dr. Eisenberg is with the Department of Health Management and Policy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Dr. Gollust is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

OBJECTIVE: Despite considerable policy interest in the association between perceived public stigmatization of mental illness and use of mental health services, limited empirical evidence, particularly from longitudinal data, documents this relationship. This study used longitudinal data to estimate the association between perceived public stigmatization and subsequent mental health care seeking. METHODS: A Web-based survey was used to collect data from a random sample of undergraduate and graduate students at a university at baseline and two years later (N=732). Logistic regression models assessed the association between students' perceived public stigma at baseline and measures of subsequent help seeking for mental health problems (perceived need for help and use of mental health services) at follow-up. RESULTS: No significant associations were found between perceived public stigma and help-seeking behavior over the two-year period. CONCLUSIONS: In this population of college students, perceived stigma did not appear to pose a substantial barrier to mental health care.

Get information about faster international access.

Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2009 American Psychiatric Association. All rights reserved.

Home | Search | Current Issue | Past Issues | Subscribe | All APPI Journals | Help | Contact Us