{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,8]],"date-time":"2026-09-08T12:10:42Z","timestamp":1788869442994,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":21,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,8]],"date-time":"2026-09-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788825600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Behav. Sci.","Behavioral Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Stigma is a major barrier to psychological help-seeking among university students. This cross-sectional study examined how self-stigma and social (public) stigma are associated with attitudes toward seeking psychological help, and which sociodemographic characteristics relate to these variables, among students at a large public university in Gaziantep, T\u00fcrkiye. A total of 457 undergraduates (286 women, 62.6%; mean age 20.6 years) completed the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale\u2013Short Form (ATSPPH-SF), the Self-Stigma of Seeking Help Scale (SSOSH), and the Social Stigma for Receiving Psychological Help Scale (SSRPH), together with a demographic form. Data were analyzed with t-tests, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlations, and two-step hierarchical multiple linear regression. Self-stigma (r = \u22120.23) and social stigma (r = \u22120.15) were both negatively associated with help-seeking attitudes, and the two stigma constructs were positively correlated (r = 0.38). In hierarchical regression, demographic variables explained 9.7% of the variance in attitudes; adding the stigma variables produced a significant increment (\u0394R2 = 0.039, p &lt; 0.001; full model R2 = 0.136). Only self-stigma (\u03b2 = \u22120.17) and female gender (\u03b2 = 0.17) remained independent predictors. Women and students with a family history of psychiatric disorder or a previous diagnosis reported more positive attitudes; men reported higher social stigma; and older age was associated with lower social stigma. Faculty and income were not significantly associated with attitudes. Self-stigma appears to be the more proximal stigma-related correlate of help-seeking attitudes, consistent with the self-stigma model of help-seeking. Contact-based and cognitive stigma-reduction efforts targeting self-stigma, together with male-focused outreach, may be useful in university settings.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/bs16091597","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,8]],"date-time":"2026-09-08T11:23:51Z","timestamp":1788866631000},"page":"1597","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Self-Stigma, Social Stigma, and Attitudes Toward Seeking Psychological Help Among University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4209-2885","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Muhammet","family":"Sancaktar","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Gaziantep University, Gaziantep 27310, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"project-administration","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"visualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"resources","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"software","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"funding-acquisition","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2798-6255","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bahad\u0131r","family":"Demir","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Gaziantep University, Gaziantep 27310, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3903-1835","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"G\u00fcl\u00e7in","family":"Elbo\u011fa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Gaziantep University, Gaziantep 27310, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8307-9273","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Feridun","family":"B\u00fclb\u00fcl","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Gaziantep University, Gaziantep 27310, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5531-4419","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Abdurrahman","family":"Alt\u0131nda\u011f","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Gaziantep University, Gaziantep 27310, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"software","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"project-administration","vocabulary":"credit"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"816","DOI":"10.1002\/capr.12462","article-title":"Student mental health profiles and barriers to help seeking: When and why students seek help for a mental health concern","volume":"21","author":"Broglia","year":"2021","journal-title":"Counselling and Psychotherapy Research"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"116173","DOI":"10.1016\/j.psychres.2024.116173","article-title":"Mental health help-seeking willingness among US college students: A resilience factor associated with many sexual minority identities","volume":"342","author":"Chang","year":"2024","journal-title":"Psychiatry Research"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"11","DOI":"10.1017\/S0033291714000129","article-title":"What is the impact of mental health-related stigma on help-seeking? 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