College Students' Disclosure of Mental Health Counseling Utilization

Abstract

Mental health issues have long been stigmatized, which has led to the discrimination against people with mental health problems and to a lack of mental health service utilization. Because of stigma, disclosing mental health problems and the use of mental health services is not an easy task. The discipline of communication has produced many studies on self-disclosure, with special attention given to the disclosure of risky information. Only recently, however, have studies begun exploring individuals' disclosure of mental illness. Few studies examine the disclosure of mental health treatment utilization. The current study explores male and female college students' disclosure of mental health counseling utilization in attempt to examine predictors of disclosure and differences in gender. The research reveals several influential factors of disclosing the use of mental health services, including instrumental and informational purposes, relational maintenance and obligation, and encouragement acceptance and offering. The results emphasize the importance of open discussion about mental health issues as well as society's adoption of more tolerant and accepting attitudes.

Journal Title

Iowa Journal of Communication

Volume

Issue

First Page

156

Last Page

170

Language

File Format

application/pdf

Recommended Citation

Butler, Hannah (2016) "College Students' Disclosure of Mental Health Counseling Utilization," Iowa Journal of Communication: Vol. 48: No. 2, Article 7.
Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/ijc/vol48/iss2/7