Cultural differences in shame-focused attitudes towards mental health problems in Asian and Non-Asian student women

Abstract

This study explored differences in shame-focused attitudes to mental health problems in Asian and non-Asian students. The ‘Attitudes Towards Mental Health Problems’ (ATMHP) is a self-report scale designed for this study to measure: external shame (beliefs that others will look down on self if one has mental health problems); internal shame (related to negative self-evaluations); and reflected shame (believing that one can bring shame to family/community). A second questionnaire was designed to measure concerns with confidentiality. Results suggest that Asian students have higher external shame and reflected shame, but not internal shame beliefs. Asian students were also more concerned with confidentiality when it comes to talking about personal feeling/anxieties.