Attitudes Toward Seeking Counseling of Women Residing in Public Housing

Women living in public housing projects experience adverse outcomes because they do not seek treatment for mental illness. It is unclear whether such women have attitudes toward voluntarily accessing mental healthcare services affected by their optimism, experienced stigma, self-efficacy, and resilience. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine whether the individual determinants of resilience, self-efficacy, experienced stigma, and optimism predicted attitudes toward seeking professional mental health services of women living in public housing based on the self-efficacy, resilience, stigma, optimism, and help-seeking behavior theories. The first research question focused on bivariate correlations among resilience, self-efficacy, experienced stigma, and optimism among women residing in public housing projects. The second research questions focused on how well resilience, self-efficacy, experienced stigma, and optimism predicted attitudes toward seeking treatment. Data were collected from 116 women above 18 years old from the Greenville Housing Authority. Openness to Seeking Treatment Scale scores positively correlated to self-efficacy, optimism, and resilience. Openness to Seeking Treatment Scale scores were negatively correlated with Value/Need in Seeking Treatment Scale and Experienced Stigma Scale scores. Self-Efficacy Scale scores were the only statistically significant predictors. For the Value and Need in Seeking Treatment Scale, Self-Efficacy Scale and Optimism Scale scores were statistically significant predictors of the dependent variable. Clinicians can use the findings to increase understandings and develop better programs, offering social implications