Attitudes toward seeking help for sexual dysfunctions among US and Swedish college students

The present study examined help-seeking attitudes and stigma related to sexual problems, issues largely neglected by previous researchers. In addition, the impact of sociocultural variables on attitudes was explored. College students at public universities in the United States (n = 78) and Sweden (n = 81) completed three scales of stigma and help-seeking and rated the likelihood that they would seek help for sexual problems from each of five types of professionals. Despite differing cultural perspectives, participants from the two samples were more alike than different. In both countries, respondents expressed moderate-to-high willingness to seek help for sexual problems and low-to-moderate levels of stigma; openness to help-seeking was inversely related to stigma. Males reported higher self-stigma than females, and students who identified as Christian reported greater stigma than non-religious students. Participants reported that they would be most likely to seek help for sexual problems from gynecologists/urologists and family physicians, followed in order by sex therapists, psychologists, and counselors. Implications of these findings include consideration of self-stigma as a barrier to seeking treatment, differences in help-seeking attitudes for mental health vs. sexual concerns, and the need for greater understanding about accessing treatment for sexual dysfunctions.