Research shows that mental health of children is becoming a major consideration in schools across the country. The purpose of this study is to identify principals who are supportive of those with mental illness and advocate for greater access to services. Responses from 139 principals of Nebraska schools addressed mental health stigma of principals based on various factors. Results yielded that gender and school level are important influences on mental health stigma.

Stigmatizing Beliefs towards People with Mental Illness in Lithuanian and US Psychology Students Aistė Pranckevičienė, PhD; Kristina Žardeckaitė-Matulaitienė, PhD; Auksė Endriulaitienė, PhD; Rasa Markšaitytė, PhD; Douglas R. Tillman, PhD; David D. Hof, PhD Abstract Introduction: Professional education of mental health specialists seeks not only to develop knowledge and skills, but also to keep from forming stigmatized attitudes towards their patients. Aim. This study aimed to compare psychology students' stigmatizing beliefs in two countries: Lithuania and the US. Method: A total of 528 psychology students (110 from the US and 418 from Lithuania) participated in this cross-sectional survey. Students answered questions relating to distancing from people with mental illness, emotional reactions, causal attributions and community attitudes towards mentally ill individuals. Results: Lithuanian psychology students reported a stronger desire for social distance, expressed more fear, anger and pity, and were less optimistic about the possibilities of personal control of illness than US students. In both countries, social distance decreased, and support to community mental health care increased with education. However, only minor changes were observed in emotional reactions and cognitive beliefs about mental illness. Fear and anger significantly correlated with disagreement of community mental health care ideology and social distance. Discussion and implications for practice: Results illustrate that culture is important in stigmatizing attitudes despite of professional education. Affective dimensions of stigmatizing beliefs might be a special target planning anti-stigma interventions for mental health professionals. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/jpbs.v8n1a4

There is an expectation for in-service teachers, current teachers in the field, in primary and secondary schools to be skilled in teaching strategies and behavior management.There is a growing need for teachers also to be skilled in recognizing mental health concerns in their students.Schools are becoming acutely aware that in-service teachers are not adequately prepared in this area, and therein lies a dual responsibility to also prepare college students enrolled in teacher education programs, who will be referred to as pre-service teachers, with skills that will equip them to be supportive of students with mental health needs.This study sought to find out if there were common concepts or factors that would describe how willing a pre-service teacher would be to seek or recommend mental health services for a peer.There were 151 students enrolled in teacher education programs from one Midwestern university in the United States who volunteered to participate in this study.The research design was organized in multiple stages.The data collected were processed through an exploratory factor analysis and once the factors were found, a hierarchical multiple regression analysis was further completed to explore the relationship between such factors and the decision whether to seek or recommend mental health services.The results indicated that comfort, resistance, and environment were significant factors.The comfort factor has dominant influence over the participants' decision whether to seek or recommend mental health services.The task ahead for primary and secondary schools, and higher education institutions, is to create programs where comfort with students with mental health needs is increased, to increase awareness of the mental health resources available in the community, as well as to decrease the resistance factors.

This study aimed to explore the correlation between job burnout and self-stigma of seeking help among nonmedical mental health care providers (psychologists, social workers, and counselors) in two countries - Lithuania and the US. The study included 234 professionals (111 social workers and 123 psychologists) from Lithuania and 93 professionals (33 counselors, 23 social workers, and 37 psychologists) from the US on a voluntary basis (93% females, mean age - 39.81 years). They completed a self-reported questionnaire with the Self-Stigma of Seeking Help Scale (SSOSH) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS). The results revealed a statistically significant positive correlation between self-stigmatization and burnout in the Lithuanian sample, but only weak positive correlation between depersonalization and self-stigma of seeking help in the US sample. The relationship between the self-stigma of seeking help and burnout was stronger in the Lithuanian sample of professionals when compared to their colleagues in the US.

Negative stereotypes of people with mental illness may lead to stigma of those with mental illness, impacting their self-confidence and willingness to seek mental health treatment. Few studies have looked at the health professional’s role and the impact they may have on the stigmatization process of people with mental illness. The purpose of this article was to better understand the concept of social distance among individuals in the helping professions of counseling, social work, and psychology. A total of 305 students and 95 professionals from counseling, social work and psychology participated in this study. Results revealed that counseling, social work, and psychology students, and helping professionals do not differ in their need for social distance from people with mental illness. Helping professionals reported significantly more social distance from people with mental health problems in close personal relationships, compared to their social relationships. In conclusion, there were no significant differences in social distance observed as a function of professional experience.

Negative stereotypes of people with mental illness may lead to stigma of those with mental illness, impacting their self-confidence and willingness to seek mental health treatment. Few studies have looked at the health professional’s role and the impact they may have on the stigmatization process of people with mental illness. The purpose of this article was to better understand the concept of social distance among individuals in the helping professions of counseling, social work, and psychology. A total of 305 students and 95 professionals from counseling, social work and psychology participated in this study. Results revealed that counseling, social work, and psychology students, and helping professionals do not differ in their need for social distance from people with mental illness. Helping professionals reported significantly more social distance from people with mental health problems in close personal relationships, compared to their social relationships. In conclusion, there were no significant differences in social distance observed as a function of professional experience.

Archival data from an in-state survey of 428 elementary and secondary school counselors completed by the Nebraska Department of Education regarding comprehensive guidance programs was reviewed for relevant information. This information is discussed relative to the current views and knowledge regarding the state of comprehensive developmental guidance and their implications for school counselors and administrators.

Explored in this article is a model for the creation and maintenance of an international collaboration between universities in the area of mental health. A step-by-step process is described followed by its real life application to a joint research study currently underway. Finally, the implications of such a model are explored to minimize mistakes and enhance the positive effects of international collaboration for students, faculty, and university administration.

Background. The aim of this study was to evaluate and to compare self-stigma of seeking help (SSSH) in Lithuanian and US students and professionals of mental health care related professions. Methods. In total 1011 psychology, social work and counseling students (300 from US, 711 from Lithuania) and 335 professionals (98 from US, and 237 from Lithuania) participated in the study. Self-Stigma of Seeking Help Scale (Vogel, Wade, Haake, 2006) was used as a measure of negative attitudes towards psychological help seeking. Participants were also asked about their actual help-seeking behavior. Findings. ANCOVA analysis in students’ sample revealed that age, year of the studies and country of residence were significantly related to SSSH; with US students, younger students and undergraduate students reporting more negative attitudes towards psychological help-seeking. No effect of culture, gender or professional experience was observed in professionals’ sample. However older age was related to higher SSSH in professionals. Logistic regressions revealed that SSSH was the strongest predictor of actual help seeking behavior both in students and professionals. Discussion. SSSH is related to actual help-seeking behavior in psychology, social work and counseling students and professionals, with the potential to delay psychological help-seeking when it might be needed. Results of this study illustrate complex relationships between SSSH and demographic, professional and cultural variables. Thus, while developing programs for help-seeking stigma reduction in mental health professionals, age, professional experience and culture should be taken in to account; different strategies for students and professionals might be needed.

Burnout among mental health care professionals is a serious public health concern in different European countries. This calls for the efforts to explore the unique antecedents of burnout like help seeking stigma. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the correlation between help seeking stigma and burnout in four groups of mental health care professionals (psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and mental health nurses). 231 mental health care professionals completed self-reported questionnaires that consisted of Maslach Burnout Inventory General Survey (MBI-GS, Schaufeli et al., 1996) and Self-Stigma of Seeking Help (SSOSH) scale (Vogel, Wade, & Haake, 2006). The results revealed no gender differences in burnout and help seeking stigma. Emotional exhaustion was dominating in all groups of professionals, while lack of professional efficacy was the lowest component of burnout. Mental health nurses had the most negative attitudes towards seeking for psychological help when compared to psychologist, psychiatrists and social workers. Self-stigma of seeking help correlated significantly with higher psychologists' and nurses' levels of burnout. In conclusion, mental help seeking stigma is positively related to burnout among mental health care professionals, but gender and occupational group might be important for this relation. (C) 2016 Published by Future Academy www.FutureAcademy.org.uk

Research problem: Global Service-Learning (GSL), as service-learning that takes place outside of an institution's home culture, has long been touted as an important contributor to student's intercultural development. However, GSL practitioners have not yet established effective and consistent methods for evaluating the growth that students experience as a result of GSL experiences. Purpose. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of cultural immersion as a service-learning project and to use the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) to better understand the changes in student development as a result of this project. Methods. A mixed method approach was used to assess students' intercultural development, utilizing a functionalist instrument (quantitative), alongside critical-reflection guided student journals and participant observation (qualitative). Results. The results showed that the program accomplished some of its goals, however, the structure of the program was not facilitative (at least short term) of allowing all students to access the learning and transformation which was available for them. Conclusions. In conclusion, the authors note emphasizing participation, critical reflection, and intercultural growth, while also using the interplay between functionalist instruments, student generated reports, and the researcher-as-an-instrument through ethnography seem to be a nat¬ural and helpful contribution to service-learning.

Background. Psychology and social work are considered as professions with high risk of professional burnout. Although students are just gaining skills necessary for the successful professional performance, high academic demands and professional training rules might cause significant pressure and lead to burnout already during study years. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate levels of academic burnout in a sample of Lithuanian psychology and social work students and to investigate the relationship between academic burnout and psychological help seeking. Methods. 197 psychology and social work students (38 (19%) males, 159 (81%) females) from first to sixth year of studies filled Maslach Burnout Inventory Students Survey and Self-Stigma of Seeking Help Scale and answered question about experience of seeking for mental heath services due to personal psychological problems. Findings. Levels of emotional exhaustion and cynicism significantly increase and sense of academic efficacy decrease from first to sixth year of studies. Observed levels of burnout in Lithuanian psychology and social work students seem to be higher than reported in other studies. Experience of seeking for mental health services was significantly related to higher levels of emotional exhaustion when year of study and gender were controlled. Stigma of help seeking was significantly related to higher levels of cynicism and lower academic efficacy independently from gender and year of study. Discussion. Psychology and social work students experience high levels of academic burnout and despite of professional education still have negative attitudes towards seeking for psychological help. Raising awareness of student burnout problem is needed.

It is known that mental health specialists are not free from stigmatizing beliefs about mental illness and these beliefs may impact specialists’ behaviour fostering social distance towards people with mental illness. However we still lack information which aspects of stigma – cognitive or affective – are more important for prediction of social distance, especially during the study years. This study was aimed to find out, which aspect of mental illness stigma – beliefs or emotional reactions – are more important predictors of social distance. 207 psychology and social work students from first to six year of study (mean age 22.3) participated in a cross-sectional survey. Students answered self-report questionnaire consisting of 12 questions addressing causal attributions of mental illness, 13 questions covering experience of fear, anger and sympathy towards people with mental illness and 9 questions addressing social distancing in personal and social relationships. Questionnaires were built for this particular study. The results have shown that senior students report less fear of people with mental illness. Cognitive beliefs about mental illness, anger, sympathy, and social distance do not change significantly through the study years. Regression analysis revealed that emotions felt towards people with mental illness, especially fear, are more important predictors of social distance than cognitive beliefs taking into account profession and year of study. The results imply that affective component of stigma of mental illness should be purposefully addressed while preparing future mental health specialists in order to change their stigmatizing behaviour towards people with mental illness.