title: Cross-cultural validity of the Self-Stigma of Seeking Help (SSOSH) scale: examination across six nations.
abstract: Researchers have found that the stigma associated with seeking therapy--particularly self-stigma--can inhibit the use of psychological services. Yet, most of the research on self-stigma has been conducted in the United States. This is a considerable limitation, as the role of self-stigma in the help-seeking process may vary across cultural groups. However, to examine cross-cultural variations, researchers must first develop culturally valid scales. Therefore, this study examined scale validity and reliability of the widely used Self-Stigma of Seeking Help scale (SSOSH; Vogel, Wade, & Haake, 2006) across samples from 6 different countries (England, Greece, Israel, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United States). Specifically, we used a confirmatory factor analysis framework to conduct measurement invariance analysis and latent mean comparisons of the SSOSH across the 6 sampled countries. Overall, the results suggested that the SSOSH has a similar univariate structure across countries and is sufficiently invariant across countries to be used to explore cultural differences in the way that self-stigma relates to help-seeking behavior.
authors: Department of Psychology.
authors: David L
authors: DL
authors: Vogel
authors: Department of Psychology.
authors: Patrick Ian
authors: PI
authors: Armstrong
authors: Department of Psychology.
authors: Pei-Chun
authors: PC
authors: Tsai
authors: Department of Psychology.
authors: Nathaniel G
authors: NG
authors: Wade
authors: Department of Psychology.
authors: Joseph H
authors: 0000-0002-4028-5878
authors: JH
authors: Hammer
authors: Department of Psychology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
authors: Georgios
authors: G
authors: Efstathiou
authors: Department of Psychology, Nottingham Trent University.
authors: Elizabeth
authors: E
authors: Holtham
authors: Department of Psychology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
authors: Elli
authors: E
authors: Kouvaraki
authors: Department of Educational Psychology, Chinese University of Hong Kong.
authors: Hsin-Ya
authors: HY
authors: Liao
authors: Department of Counseling and Human Development, Haifa University.
authors: Zipora
authors: Z
authors: Shechtman
authors: Department of Educational Sciences, Dumlupınar University.
authors: Nursel
authors: N
authors: Topkaya
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003376:Counseling; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012649:Self Concept; D057545:Social Stigma; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult