How Depression Stigma Affects Attitude Toward Help Seeking: the Mediating Effect of Depression Somatization

Abstract

We investigated the relationships among the social stigma associated with depression, somatization of depression-related symptoms, and help seeking. Participants were 357 Chinese undergraduate students. Stigma, somatization, and help seeking were measured with a neuropsychological assessment and validated clinical scales. We performed a path (principal components) analysis of the role of somatization as a mediator in the relationship between depression stigma and help seeking, and found that the hypothesized mediation model fit the data well. Our results confirm previous findings on the mediating role of depression somatization in the relationship between depression stigma and attitude towards help seeking. The identification of mediators contributes to the understanding of the mechanisms that prevent help seeking among Chinese college students.