title: Factors influencing Chinese college students' preferences for mental health professionals.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Transition from high school to college can be particularly difficult and stressful for Chinese college students because of parent expectations.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to examine therapist variables influencing Chinese college students' preferences for mental health professionals using conjoint analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two hundred fifty-eight community college students in Hong Kong were asked to rate the profile of 55 mental health professionals representing a combination of therapist characteristics (i.e., gender, age, race/ethnicity, professional background, and training institutions) from the most to least preferred therapist from whom to seek psychological counselling.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results indicated that students' preference formation was based largely on professional background and training institution of the mental health professionals. Clinical psychologists and clinical social workers were preferred over educational psychologists (school psychologists), counsellors, and psychiatrists. Mental health professionals who received training from more prestigious schools were preferred over those trained at less prestigious schools.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Understanding clients' preference formation for choosing mental health professionals could be the first step to gain insights for developing effective educational and outreach strategies to promote help seeking behavior and mental health service utilization among Chinese college students.
authors.affiliation: a Community College of City University, City University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong , China .
authors.forename: Vitti
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ip
authors.affiliation: b Department of Rehabilitation Psychology , University of Wisconsin - Madison , Madison , WI , USA .
authors.forename: Fong
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.affiliation: c Department of Counseling Psychology , Ball State University , Muncie , IN , USA .
authors.forename: Jacob Yui-Chung
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.affiliation: a Community College of City University, City University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong , China .
authors.forename: June Ka Yan
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: d Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology , Michigan State University , East Lansing , MI , USA , and.
authors.forename: Connie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.affiliation: e Department of Integrated Health Psychology , The Wright Institute , Berkeley , CA , USA.
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: H Wilson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D000066505:Help-Seeking Behavior; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: College students; counselling; mental health; preferences