The Relationship Between Religiosity and Mental Health Help-Seeking Attitudes Among African American Collegiate Students

In the 21st century, religion continues to be central to the black community in America (Raboteau, 2009). Religion and spirituality play an important role within the African American culture. As such, the intersection of race and religion has implications for the fields of mental health and student development. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between religiosity and mental health help-seeking behaviors among African American collegiate students. Due to the centrality of religion and the historical role that religion has occupied among African Americans in general, it was hypothesized that there would be an inverse relationship between religiosity/spirituality and the mental health help-seeking behaviors of African American collegiate students. As the religiosity and spirituality of African American collegiate students increase, the likelihood decreases that they will seek professional psychological help to address mental health issues and developmental crises. To test this hypothesis, a correlational research design was utilized to study the relationships among the variables. The sample consisted of 166 students of African American and Caribbean descent from a private university in the Mid-Atlantic region. Participants were surveyed using the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale—Short Form (ATSPPHS-SF), the Fetzer Brief Multidimensional Measurement of Religiousness/Spirituality (BMMRS), subscales of the National Survey of American Life (NSAL), and a basic demographic questionnaire. Results indicated negative correlates between religiosity and attitudes toward professional mental health help-seeking and positive correlates between spirituality and attitudes toward professional mental health help-seeking among African American collegiate students. Discussion and implications of those factors are presented.