Physician referral to a psychologist: Testing alternative behavioral healthcare seeking models

Joseph H. Hammer; Douglas A. Spiker; Paul B. Perrin

doi:10.1002/jclp.22729

Physician referral to a psychologist: Testing alternative behavioral healthcare seeking models

Joseph H. Hammer, Douglas A. Spiker, Paul B. Perrin

Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective: Primary care physicians (PCPs) often refer patients to psychological services, but help-seeking factors in the context of behavioral healthcare referral are understudied. This study examined perceptions of seeking psychological help for depression by comparing alternative structural equation models derived from the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA). Method: Internet survey participants (N = 685 US adults, 77% female, M _age = 45) imagined themselves in a vignette scenario in which they are experiencing depression symptoms and encouraged by a PCP to see a psychologist. Results: Results supported the indirect model, in which the links between distal help-seeking factors (i.e., self-stigma, symptom recognition, perceived effectiveness of treatment) and intention to follow through on the referral to the psychologist were fully mediated by the more proximal TRA factors (i.e., attitudes, subjective norms, etc). Conclusions: Our findings supported the use of TRA in understanding peoples’ intention to seek psychological help for depression when referred by their PCP.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	726-741
Number of pages	16
Journal	Journal of Clinical Psychology
Volume	75
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22729
State	Published - Apr 2019

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Participants were recruited via ResearchMatch (RM), a national health volunteer registry created by several academic institutions and supported by the US National Institutes of Health as part of the Clinical Translational Science Award program. The (University of Kentucky) Office of Research Integrity approved the study. RM participants were contacted via the registry regarding the study, advertised as a survey about healthcare and personal well being. Interested participants were directed to a Qualtrics online survey that began with an informed consent page.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Keywords

help-seeking
help-seeking attitudes
integrated care
referral
stigma

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
Clinical Psychology

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10.1002/jclp.22729

Cite this

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title = "Physician referral to a psychologist: Testing alternative behavioral healthcare seeking models",

abstract = " Objective: Primary care physicians (PCPs) often refer patients to psychological services, but help-seeking factors in the context of behavioral healthcare referral are understudied. This study examined perceptions of seeking psychological help for depression by comparing alternative structural equation models derived from the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA). Method: Internet survey participants (N = 685 US adults, 77% female, M age = 45) imagined themselves in a vignette scenario in which they are experiencing depression symptoms and encouraged by a PCP to see a psychologist. Results: Results supported the indirect model, in which the links between distal help-seeking factors (i.e., self-stigma, symptom recognition, perceived effectiveness of treatment) and intention to follow through on the referral to the psychologist were fully mediated by the more proximal TRA factors (i.e., attitudes, subjective norms, etc). Conclusions: Our findings supported the use of TRA in understanding peoples{\textquoteright} intention to seek psychological help for depression when referred by their PCP. ",

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note = "Funding Information: Participants were recruited via ResearchMatch (RM), a national health volunteer registry created by several academic institutions and supported by the US National Institutes of Health as part of the Clinical Translational Science Award program. The (University of Kentucky) Office of Research Integrity approved the study. RM participants were contacted via the registry regarding the study, advertised as a survey about healthcare and personal well being. Interested participants were directed to a Qualtrics online survey that began with an informed consent page. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.",

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PY - 2019/4

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N2 - Objective: Primary care physicians (PCPs) often refer patients to psychological services, but help-seeking factors in the context of behavioral healthcare referral are understudied. This study examined perceptions of seeking psychological help for depression by comparing alternative structural equation models derived from the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA). Method: Internet survey participants (N = 685 US adults, 77% female, M age = 45) imagined themselves in a vignette scenario in which they are experiencing depression symptoms and encouraged by a PCP to see a psychologist. Results: Results supported the indirect model, in which the links between distal help-seeking factors (i.e., self-stigma, symptom recognition, perceived effectiveness of treatment) and intention to follow through on the referral to the psychologist were fully mediated by the more proximal TRA factors (i.e., attitudes, subjective norms, etc). Conclusions: Our findings supported the use of TRA in understanding peoples’ intention to seek psychological help for depression when referred by their PCP.

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Physician referral to a psychologist: Testing alternative behavioral healthcare seeking models

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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