Duong-Ohtsuka, Thai and Ohtsuka, Keis (2001) Differences in Attitudes Towards Psychological Help Among Vietnamese- and Australian-Born Respondents. In: Culture and the gambling phenomenon: Proceedings of the 11th National Conference of the National Assoctiation for Gambling Studies. National Association for Gambling Studies, Alphington, Vic, Australia, pp. 119-127.

Abstract

Under-utilisation of health services among Australian migrants has been a challenge for mainstream health service providers. Since help seeking behaviour is unique to specific cultural groups, this paper examines the differences in attitudes towards psychological help seeking between the Vietnamese- and the Australian-born respondents. A sample of 131 participants (62 Vietnamese born, 69 Australian born) answered the Attitudes toward Psychological Help Questionnaire (Fischer & Turner, 1970). It was hypothesised that Vietnamese-born participants have: (a) less recognition of need for help, (b) less confidence in helpers, (c) lower stigma tolerance, (d) less interpersonal openness, and (e) less knowledge regarding where to seek help compared to Australian-born counterparts. Discriminant analysis showed that recognition of need for help, stigma tolerance, confidence in helpers, and knowledge regarding where to get help provided enough information to distinguish the two groups with 75.6% of correct classification rate. Although Vietnamese expressed significantly higher confidence in helpers, they were less certain about where to get help as expected. Australian-born respondents showed both higher stigma tolerance and higher knowledge regarding services available. Implications for counselling services directed to Vietnamese-Australian communities will be discussed.

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