The effects of psychological factors on intention to seek counselling in international students in Taiwan

The population of international students in Taiwan has increased significantly in recent years. The current study adopted Cramer’s (1999) model of help-seeking behaviour, which explains the relationships between self-concealment, social support, distress levels, attitudes toward counselling, and intention to seek counselling. The study used cross-cultural samples for the linkage of Cramer’s model. In total, 108 international students from a Taiwanese university were surveyed to assess self-concealment, social support, attitudes toward seeking professional help, psychological distress, and intention to seek counselling. Confirmatory factor and bootstrap analyses were used to analyse the data. The results showed that psychological distress and attitudes toward seeking professional help played mediatory roles in the relationship between self-concealment and intention to seek counselling. Schools should seek to increase institutional sensitivity to international students’ feelings and provide appropriate resources (e.g., professional psychological help) to increase accessibility to university counselling services for diverse international students.