Needs, Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Help, and Preferred Sources of Help Among Emirati College Students

This investigation, conducted in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), examined Emirati college students’ needs, help-seeking attitudes, preference for source of help, and perceptions of counseling services offered on campus. Most participants reported moderate levels of personal, academic, career, and interpersonal needs, although results varied along gender lines. Overall, participants displayed slightly positive attitudes toward seeking professional help, yet showed negative attitudes toward interpersonal openness, although this, too, differed by gender. Participants preferred non-professional sources of help, such as family and friends. Participants understood counseling services on campus to refer to academic-related services. Findings are discussed within the UAE cultural context

Developing Counselor Education Identity in UAE: Evaluation of an Undergraduate Program

Counseling in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) involves challenges that need to be addressed to promote awareness about the usefulness and application of counseling among scholars, practitioners, and the public. Unlike in many other countries, counselor education in UAE has a short history, dating from 2005. In this investigation, a program evaluation was conducted using SWOT analysis to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the UAE University counselor education program as well as the opportunities and external threats to it. Results yielded several findings with regard to the program’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Findings are discussed within the context of UAE culture

Examining the Dimensionality, Reliability, and Invariance of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale–21 (DASS-21) Across Eight Countries

© The Author(s) 2020. This study evaluated the dimensionality, invariance, and reliability of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale–21 (DASS-21) within and across Brazil, Canada, Hong Kong, Romania, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and the United States (N = 2,580) in college student samples. We used confirmatory factor analyses to compare the fit of four different factor structures of the DASS-21: a unidimensional model, a three-correlated-factors model, a higher order model, and a bifactor model. The bifactor model, with three specific factors (depression, anxiety, and stress) and one general factor (general distress), presented the best fit within each country. We also calculated ancillary bifactor indices of model-based dimensionality of the DASS-21 and model-based reliability to further examine the validity of the composite total and subscale scores and the use of unidimensional modeling. Results suggested the DASS-21 can be used as a unidimensional scale. Finally, measurement invariance of the best fitting model was tested across countries indicating configural invariance. The traditional three-correlated-factors model presented scalar invariance across Canada, Hong Kong, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. Overall, these analyses indicate that the DASS-21 would best be used as a general score of distress rather than three separate factors of depression, anxiety, and stress, in the countries studied

Stigma of Seeking Psychological Services: Examining College Students Across Ten Countries/Regions

© Division of Counseling Psychology of the American Psychological Association. Stigma is an important barrier to seeking psychological services worldwide. Two types of stigma exist: public stigma and self-stigma. Scholars have argued that public stigma leads to self-stigma, and then self-stigma is the primary predictor of attitudes toward seeking psychological services. However, this assertion is largely limited to U.S. samples. The goal of this research was to provide a first step in understanding the relationship between public stigma, self-stigma, and attitudes toward seeking psychological services in international contexts (N = 3,276; Australia, Brazil, Canada, Hong Kong, Portugal, Romania, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and United States). Using structural equation modeling, we found that self-stigma mediated the relationship between public stigma and attitudes toward seeking services among college students in each country and region. However, differences in path strengths emphasize the need to pay attention to the role of public and self-stigma on attitudes toward seeking psychological services throughout the world