Relationships Between Treatment Attitudes, Psychological Symptoms, Emotional Competence, and Help-Seeking Intentions

The authors examined whether emotional competence (i.e., awareness, coping strategies) predicted help-seeking intentions above and beyond previously identified factors (i.e., attitudes and perceived stigma toward professional help, psychological symptom severity) in an undergraduate sample (N = 531). Emotional awareness predicted help-seeking intentions for personal/emotional problems and suicidal thoughts. Emotional coping strategies predicted help-seeking intentions for suicidal thoughts and moderated the relationship between symptom severity and help-seeking intentions for suicidal thoughts. Efforts to increase help-seeking should address students' emotional competence.