Shame-Focused Attitudes Toward Mental Health Problems

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of gender and culture on shame-focused attitudes toward mental health problems. Two hundred and ninety-three university students from Asian, Latino, and Caucasian American cultural backgrounds participated in the study. The Attitudes Toward Mental Health Problems Scale was used to measure shame-focused attitudes. A 2 (gender) × 3 (culture) multivariate analyses of variance was performed. Results indicated that there was no significant gender difference in shame-focused attitudes toward mental health problems. Of the three ethnic cultural groups, Latino American students had the highest mean score on how shameful they would feel if they had mental health problems. Asian American students had the lowest mean score on how negative their families would view themselves if they had mental health problems. Implications of the results for rehabilitation research and practice are discussed.