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U.S.-Based Latina/O College Students’ Attitudes toward Online Counseling

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Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine the attitudes of Latina/o college students in the U.S. toward online counseling, with particular attention to the role of gender, self-stigma, perceptions of stigma by others, and acculturation within a sample of 231 college students. This cross-sectional survey used the ‘Perceived Stigmatization by Others for Seeking Psychological Help Scale’ (Vogel et al. 2009), the ‘Self-Stigma of Seeking Psychological Help Scale’ (Vogel et al. 2006), and the ‘Short Acculturation Scale for Hispanics’ (Marin et al. 1987) to measure attitudes toward online counseling. Online counseling had a significant but weak relationship with self-stigma. Additionally, a hierarchical multiple regression analysis tested variables that might predict attitudes toward online counseling, using previous experience with counseling and gender as control variables. In the overall model, previous experience with counseling, acculturation, and self-stigma significantly predicted attitudes toward online counseling. The implications of the findings as well as areas for future research are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Counseling Psychology, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, USA

    Jorge L. Ballesteros

  2. Department of Counseling, Rehabilitation Counseling, and Counseling Psychology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA

    Robert C. Hilliard

  3. Department of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA

    Robert C. Hilliard

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  1. Jorge L. Ballesteros
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Correspondence to Robert C. Hilliard.

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Ballesteros, J.L., Hilliard, R.C. U.S.-Based Latina/O College Students’ Attitudes toward Online Counseling. Int J Adv Counselling 38, 269–285 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10447-016-9271-x

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