Effects of gender, self-esteem and some other factors on attitudes toward seeking counseling among Japanese university students

Abstract

In this era of universal access to university education in Japan, students with various needs enter universities. As a result, the university counseling center has to provide not only psychotherapeutic, but also preventive and educational services to the university community. Previous research has shown that many students do not seek counseling even when they are in need of help. Therefore, we as community psychologists, must identify the reasons for this reluctance. In this paper, we investigated factors related to attitudes toward seeking counseling among university students, through specially focusing on self-esteem. A total of 434 Students completed a questionnaire that included the Attitudes Toward Seeking Counseling Scale (ATSC). Results indicated that female students showed more positive attitudes toward seeking counseling than male students on all ATSC subscales. As for self-esteem, it had a positive relationship with one ATSC subscale: “tolerance of stigma.” Moreover, students that had previously used a counseling service and those that had attended a psychology class showed more positive attitudes. Further research is required to clarify the determinants of help-seeking behavior of students, in order to develop effective intervention programs to assist those that are reluctant to come for counseling, or seek psychological help.