Mackenzie Corey S, Krook Melissa A, Murphy Dallas J, Rapaport Li-Elle
Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Clin Gerontol. 2024 Sep 29:1-13. doi: 10.1080/07317115.2024.2408762.
Older adults are the least likely age group to seek mental health services, and internalized stigma is an important reason why. We sought to further our understanding of which older adults are particularly likely to be affected by internalized stigma, and why, by investigating mental health literacy (MHL) as a moderator within the internalized stigma model of help-seeking.
We utilized a conditional process analysis of cross-sectional, secondary data from 350 distressed older adults. Participants completed an online survey consisting of measures of distress, perceived control, experiential avoidance, MHL, public and self-stigma of seeking help, help-seeking attitudes, and conditional help-seeking intentions.
MHL moderated the internalized stigma model; distressed older adults with lower MHL were more likely to have public stigma internalized as self-stigma, which then reduced their intentions to seek help. More specifically, low MHL magnified the negative effect of self-stigma on attitudes and intentions.
These results increase our understanding of which older adults are less likely to seek mental health services: distressed older adults with poor MHL and high self-stigma.
MHL is a malleable construct that can be targeted by interventions designed to increase help-seeking among distressed older adults in need of professional help.
老年人是最不可能寻求心理健康服务的年龄群体，内化耻辱感是一个重要原因。我们试图通过调查心理健康素养（MHL）作为寻求帮助的内化耻辱感模型中的调节变量，进一步了解哪些老年人特别容易受到内化耻辱感的影响以及原因。
我们对来自350名 distressed 老年人的横断面二手数据进行了条件过程分析。参与者完成了一项在线调查，包括痛苦程度、感知控制、经验性回避、MHL、寻求帮助的公众和自我耻辱感、寻求帮助的态度以及有条件的寻求帮助意图等测量指标。
MHL调节了内化耻辱感模型；MHL较低的 distressed 老年人更有可能将公众耻辱感内化为自我耻辱感，进而降低了他们寻求帮助的意愿。更具体地说，低MHL放大了自我耻辱感对态度和意愿的负面影响。
这些结果增进了我们对哪些老年人不太可能寻求心理健康服务的理解：MHL差且自我耻辱感高的 distressed 老年人。
MHL是一个可塑的结构，可以通过旨在增加有专业帮助需求的 distressed 老年人寻求帮助的干预措施来针对它。
