Development of a Scale for Measuring Help-Seeking Styles

Abstract

The purposes of the present study were to develop a scale that measured 3 help-seeking styles: self-directed help-seeking, excessive help-seeking, and avoidant help-seeking, and to examine the reliability and validity of the resulting scale. Participants were university students. Study 1 demonstrated that the scale had sufficient internal consistency and validity; Study 2 confirmed the test-retest reliability of the scale. In Study 3, the relation between help-seeking style and future help-seeking behavior was examined, using a longitudinal design. Results of the analysis confirmed that the scale predicted the pattern of actual help-seeking behavior. Those students whom the scale had identified as having a self-directed help-seeking style sought help according to the degree of their concerns; those that the scale identified as having an excessive help-seeking style sought help frequently, even when they had few concerns; and those identified as having an avoidant help-seeking style did not seek help even when having several concerns.