Using the ATMHS scale to determine differences in attitudes toward various mental health professionals.

Abstract

This present study represents a systematic attempt to examine participants' attitudes toward seeking help from psychologists and psychiatrists using a psychometrically sound attitude scale, specifically the Attitude toward Mental Health Services (ATMHS) scale. The design for this experiment was a 2 x 2 between groups design. A sample of approximately 160 undergraduate students was utilized for this study. Analyses of Variance and a Multivariate Analyses of Variance were used to examine participants' scores on the ATMHS scale. The results of this study suggested that this sample was relatively knowledgeable about the roles and responsibilities of both psychologists and psychiatrists. Additionally, the results also suggested that participants' attitudes toward seeking help did not differ based upon whether or not they were considering seeking help from a psychologist or psychiatrist. However, this result approached significance, and may reflect a meaningful difference given that the power to detect smaller but meaningful differences was limited due to sample size. When examining further it was found that participants significantly differed on two of the three factor scores that make up the ATMHS scale: Internal/External Coping resources and Fear of Stigma. Implications related to this finding for both the professions of psychology and psychiatry was also discussed.