Evaluation of Attitudes Towards Seeking Mental Health Services From a Cultural Perspective: Turkish Adaptation of Barriers to Seeking Mental Health Counseling Scale

Abstract

The aim of this study is to adapt the Barriers to Seeking Mental Health Counseling Scale (BSMHCS) developed by Shea, Wong, Nguyen and Gonzalez (2019) to Turkish. Data were collected from 465 university students and 302 adults. The six-factor structure in the original form of the scale was tested with CFA in university students, and the six-factor model gave an acceptable fit. The factor loadings of the items in the scale varied between .45 and .91, and the item-total score correlation coefficients varied between .30 and .54. The Cronbach Alpha internal consistency coefficient was found as .870. Test-retest correlation coefficients for the total scale was calculated as .764. The Cronbach Alpha value was found as .843, and the item total correlations varied between .32 and .70 for the adult study group. As a result of CFA, it was found that the factor loadings varied between .31 and .93. The positive correlations between the BSMHS and the BSPHS revealed that the criterion-related validity of the scale was at an acceptable level. The results showed that the Turkish form of the BSMHCS is a valid and reliable measurement tool for both university students and adults and can be used in Turkish culture.

Keywords

• barriers to seeking help
• mental health service
• psychological help
• reliability
• validity