Beliefs About Psychological Services (BAPS): development and psychometric properties

Abstract

A scale to measure attitudes towards seeking psychological help was developed (Beliefs About Psychological Services [BAPS]) and evaluated. This scale was based on items gathered from students, colleagues, and the authors when asked about common positive and negative attitudes toward psychologists and their services. Items were also based on the Fischer and Turner (1970) Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Services (ATSPPH) measure. Three studies are reported describing the construction and evaluation of the psychometric properties of the BAPS. The BAPS is an 18-item measure consisting of three subscales: Intent, Stigma Tolerance, and Expertness. Support was found for the reliability and validity of the measure.

Keywords:

• psychotherapy
• counselling
• psychological help
• attitudes
• beliefs

Declaration of interest : The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.