Americans' attitudes toward mental health treatment seeking: 1990-2003
Americans' attitudes toward mental health treatment seeking: 1990-2003
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DOI：
10.1176/appi.ps.58.5.642
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发表时间：
2007-05-01
影响因子：
3.8
通讯作者：
Mojtabai, Ramin
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Mojtabai, Ramin
目的：本研究调查了美国人对寻求心理健康治疗的态度以及对此类治疗有效性的信念的最新趋势。方法：对美国普通民众的两次代表性调查的态度和信念数据进行比较。样本包括 1990-1992 年国家合并症调查 (NCS) 的 5,388 名参与者和 2001-2003 年国家合并症调查复制 (NCS-R) 的 4,319 名参与者。结果：2001-2003年调查的参与者比1990-1992年调查的参与者更愿意寻求专业帮助来解决心理健康问题（41.4%的人表示他们在2001-2003年“肯定会”寻求专业帮助，而1990-1992年这一比例为35.6%）。最近的调查的参与者也更愿意与专业人士谈论个人问题（2001-2003 年有 32.4% 的受访者表示感觉“非常舒服”，而 1990-1992 年的这一比例为 27.1%），并且不太可能表示如果其他人发现此事他们会感到尴尬（2001-2003 年有 40.3% 的受访者表示“一点也不尴尬”） 1990-1992 年为 33.7%）。年轻参与者的态度比中年参与者的态度改善更多。在各项调查中，公众对心理健康治疗有效性以及无需治疗即可康复的可能性的看法几乎没有变化。结论：在过去十年中，寻求心理健康治疗变得更加容易被接受，与之相关的耻辱感也有所下降。公众态度的这些变化可能导致美国对心理健康服务的需求不断增长，并将在未来几年继续如此。
Objective: This study examined recent trends in Americans' attitudes toward mental health treatment seeking and beliefs about the effectiveness of such treatment. Methods: Data on attitudes and beliefs from two representative surveys of the U. S. general population were compared. Samples included 5,388 participants from the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS) in 1990-1992 and 4,319 from the National Comorbidity Survey-Replication (NCS-R) in 2001-2003. Results: Participants in the 2001-2003 survey were more willing than those in the 1990-1992 survey to seek professional help for mental health problems (41.4% reported that they would "definitely go" for professional help in 2001-2003, compared with 35.6% in 1990-1992). Participants in the more recent survey were also more comfortable talking with a professional about personal problems (32.4% in 2001-2003 reported feeling "very comfortable," compared with 27.1% in 1990-1992) and were less likely to say that they would be embarrassed if others found out about it (40.3% reported being " not at all embarrassed" in 2001-2003, compared with 33.7% in 1990-1992). Attitudes of younger participants improved more than attitudes of middle-aged participants. Public beliefs about the effectiveness of mental health treatment and the likelihood of recovery without treatment changed little across surveys. Conclusions: Mental health treatment seeking has become more acceptable over the past decade, and perceived stigma associated with it has declined. These changes in public attitudes have likely contributed to the growing demand for mental health services in the United States and will continue to do so in the coming years.