The Attitudes of Hong Kong Protestants Regarding Professional Psychotherapeutic Services

Objective: Through this study, the researcher quantified attitudes of Hong Kong Protestants regarding the probability of seeking mental health services and potential obstacles to doing so. While there has been a history of antagonism between scientific psychology and Protestant leaders, recently, increased collaboration and trust have been developing. As a result, many mainstream Protestant ecclesiastic authorities encourage parishioners to obtain psychiatric treatment when needed. As empirical research regarding the extent of this new openness has been limited, the present study was designed to assess the attitudes of Protestants who live in Hong Kong with regard to their willingness to seek professional mental health services. Moreover, the study assesses the potential barriers that might inhibit utilization of psychiatric services.;Method: A convenience sample of 308 participants completed the following measures: (a) socio-demographic information, (b) Religious Commitment Inventory-17 (RCI-17), (c) Inventory of Attitudes toward Seeking Mental Health Services (IASMHS), and (d) Mental Health Causes and Treatment Opinions Scale (MHCTOS). Scores on these measures were analyzed to quantify the relationship between the participants' help-seeking attitude and their religious commitment. The impact of demographic and help-seeking attitude variables on professional psychotherapeutic services also was assessed using correlational and mean differences tests. In addition, multiple regression was used to evaluate the relationship of help-seeking propensity with psychological openness and the indifferent stigma. Responses to the open question, "If I would seek help from mental health practitioners, what concerns and worries would I have?" were analyzed using grounded theory.;Results: It was found that those with a high commitment to their Protestant faith were more likely to seek help from mental health professionals, especially those who had encountered marital issues. Age, education, and marital status also were related to the likelihood of seeking mental health services if needed. At the same time, highly committed Christians were more likely to view mental health problems as spiritual in nature. Regarding the barriers of seeking help from mental health professionals, stigma regarding mental health illness was negatively associated with help-seeking propensity. Interestingly, Protestants who had high faith commitment were more indifferent to stigma than were those less identified with their faith. Based on the analysis of the responses to the open-ended question, the following five areas were noted as influencing one's decision to seek help from a psychotherapist: (a) treatment efficacy expectancies, (b) respect for faith tenets and practices, (c) cost of treatment, (d) the competence of the treating professional, and (e) confidentiality issues.;Conclusions: Most respondents would be open to seeking mental health services, but religious issues in treatment should be taken into consideration.;Keywords: Protestants, mental health professionals, help-seeking attitude, mental illness, Hong Kong.