Factors influencing attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help among South Asian students in Britain

Abstract

The present study examined the associations between attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help (ATSPPH), adherence to Asian values, cultural mistrust, and salience of ethnic identity in a sample of South Asian university students in Britain. A total of 148 participants completed a survey consisting of measures of the afore-mentioned variables, and provided their demographic details. Preliminary analyses showed that women held significantly more positive ATSPPH than men ( = 0.51); there were also small differences between participants of Indian, Pakistani, and other South Asian descent. Further analyses revealed that ATSPPH was significantly predicted by ethnic identity, cultural mistrust, and adherence to Asian values, once the effects of participant sex and ethnicity had been partialled out. The implications of these results for promoting mental health care utilisation among South Asian students are discussed in conclusion.