Al Omari Omar, Al Sawafi Aziza, Al-Adawi Samir, Aldiabat Khaldoun, Al Dameery Khloud, ALBashtawy Mohammed, Alkhawaldeh Abdullah, Musa Ahmed, Al Sabei Sulaiman, Al Qadire Mohammad, Aljezawi Maen
College of Nursing, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman.
College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman.
BMC Psychol. 2024 Dec 21;12(1):772. doi: 10.1186/s40359-024-02294-4.
Various factors associated with attitudes toward the utilization of professional psychological help among the school-going population have been explored, but studies from Arabian Gulf countries are lacking. This study aimed to assess attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help, examine how demographic factors and self-esteem are associated with seeking psychological help, and understand the interaction between these variables.
A cross-sectional correlational design was used. A random sample of Omani secondary school students (n = 2165) aged 15-18 years completed the demographics sheet, the Scale of Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help (SATSPH), and the Rosenberg self-esteem scale. Hierarchical regression analysis with interaction was performed to test the moderating role of self-esteem in the relationship between selected demographics and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help (ATSPH).
Most of the adolescents exhibited poor attitudes toward ATSPH. The findings demonstrated a significant moderating effect of self-esteem on the relationship between demographics (sex and age) and ATSPH (ΔR 2 = 0.002, F (7, 2156) = 4.839, p < 0.001). In terms of sex, women may have more positive attitudes toward seeking help than men. However, when self-esteem is considered, the positive effect of being female can reverse at higher levels of self-esteem, suggesting that men with higher self-esteem may have more positive attitudes toward seeking help than women with higher self-esteem. Furthermore, initially, age was not significant. However, when self-esteem was introduced as a moderator, age was a significant predictor. These findings indicate that the effect of age on seeking professional psychological help is influenced by self-esteem.
This study highlights that attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help among Omani adolescents are generally poor and are influenced by both demographic factors and self-esteem. Although women tend to have more positive attitudes than men do, this can change with varying levels of self-esteem. Similarly, the effect of age on these attitudes is dependent on self-esteem levels. This underscores the complex interplay between demographic factors and self-esteem in shaping attitudes toward psychological help-seeking behaviors. Therefore, more studies of this nature are warranted.
人们已经探索了与在校人群对利用专业心理帮助的态度相关的各种因素，但来自阿拉伯海湾国家的研究尚缺。本研究旨在评估对寻求专业心理帮助的态度，考察人口统计学因素和自尊如何与寻求心理帮助相关联，并理解这些变量之间的相互作用。
采用横断面相关设计。对15至18岁的阿曼中学生（n = 2165）进行随机抽样，他们完成了人口统计学问卷、寻求专业心理帮助态度量表（SATSPH）和罗森伯格自尊量表。进行带有交互作用的分层回归分析，以检验自尊在选定人口统计学因素与寻求专业心理帮助态度（ATSPH）之间关系中的调节作用。
大多数青少年对寻求专业心理帮助的态度较差。研究结果表明自尊在人口统计学因素（性别和年龄）与寻求专业心理帮助态度之间的关系中具有显著的调节作用（ΔR² = 0.002，F(7, 2156) = 4.839，p < 0.001）。在性别方面，女性对寻求帮助的态度可能比男性更积极。然而，考虑到自尊时，女性的积极效应在较高自尊水平时可能会逆转，这表明自尊较高的男性对寻求帮助的态度可能比自尊较高的女性更积极。此外，最初年龄并不显著。然而，当引入自尊作为调节变量时，年龄成为一个显著的预测因素。这些发现表明年龄对寻求专业心理帮助的影响受自尊的影响。
本研究强调阿曼青少年对寻求专业心理帮助的态度总体较差，且受人口统计学因素和自尊的影响。尽管女性往往比男性态度更积极，但这会因自尊水平的不同而改变。同样，年龄对这些态度的影响取决于自尊水平。这凸显了人口统计学因素和自尊在塑造对心理求助行为的态度方面的复杂相互作用。因此，有必要开展更多此类研究。
