Özet:

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to investigate adults' attitudes towards seeking psychological help and its relationship with various socio-demographic as well as personal factors. MATERIALS and METHODS: The participants in this cross-sectional study were 490 people working in the public sector in the city of Aydin, Turkey. Participants filled in the Professional Help Seeking attitude Scale (PHSAS), Perceived Social Support from Family (PSS-Fa) and Friends (PSS-Fr) scales and the 12-item version General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). The data were analysed by means of t-test, one direction variant analysis (ANOVA), Pearson's Correlation analysis and reliability analysis. RESULTS: The participants reported to prefer seeking help from family members 57.1 %; from friends 31.3 % and from a psychiatrist 15.5 % , respectively. Educational status was found to have a significant effect on PHSAS difficulty in seeking psychological help subscale scores (F=4.9; p<0.001) and belief in psychological counseling subscale scores (F=6.6; p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Most of the participants felt psychologically healthy, were not receiving psychological help and said that when they felt psychological distress they overcame this by socializing with family members and friends. An inclination to apply for a psychiatrist is associated with being a university graduate, having higher income, having a relative receiving psychological help, and accepting a need for psychological help. The findings indicated that people with effective coping skills with stress, having social support and higher general health perception were more positive to seeking psychological help.

Anahtar Kelimeler: