First Advisor
O'Halloran, M. Sean
Second Advisor
Rings, Jeffrey A.
Document Type
Dissertation
Date Created
8-1-2015
Department
College of Education and Behavioral Sciences, Applied Psychology and Counselor Education, APCE Student Work
Abstract
Help seeking behaviors among college students is characterized by pervasive underutilization. The most common reason why students avoid treatment for mental illness is the fear of being stigmatized. The field of psychology has recognized and examined the stigma associated with gender and ethnicity, but has not fully explored the stigma related to other identities. Social class is one of the most meaningful cultural dimensions in people’s lives. Despite this recognition, examination of class, class inequality and classism are generally missing from psychological discourse even when multiculturalism is a central focus. This paper documents original research examining the influence of student experiences with classism on attitudes toward seeking mental health services and on psychological outcomes including emotional distress, college selfefficacy, and resilience. A hierarchical regression analysis evaluated whether students’ experiences with classism explained additional variance in help seeking attitudes after accounting for gender, ethnicity and social class status. This supports that a student’s gender, ethnicity and perceived social class was helpful toward understanding help seeking behaviors. This study is additive by providing empirical support for the claim that a student’s experience with classism is a significant part of the dynamic that explains student attitudes toward seeking mental health services. The data demonstrated that experiences with classism explained an additional proportion of the variance in attitudes toward seeking mental health services above and beyond gender, ethnicity and social class status. In terms of psychological distress, the data suggest that experiencing instances of classism was related to greater psychological distress. This research also found a small negative correlation between experiences with classism and college self-efficacy. Clinical implications and interventions to more fully address the experience of classism for college student are discussed.
Abstract Format
html
Keywords
Classism; Mental health; Social service; College students
Extent
299 pages
Local Identifiers
Walters_unco_0161D_10411
Rights Statement
Copyright is held by author.
Digital Origin
Born digital
Recommended Citation
Walters, Meag-gan, "Exploring the “Missing Piece” within the Social Justice Agenda: Exploring Experiences of Classism and Attitudes Toward Mental Health Services in Undergraduate Students" (2015). Dissertations. 56.
https://digscholarship.unco.edu/dissertations/56
