TY - JOUR
T1 - Older Chinese Adults' Fear of Intimacy with Helping Professionals
AU - Witt, Heather
AU - Poulin, John
AU - Ingersoll, Travis
AU - Deng, Rong
N1 - The purpose of this study is to explore the attitudes older Chinese adults have about engaging in counseling-based services as measured by a fear of intimacy with helping professionals scale. Data were collected from 150 older adults living in Chongqing, China.
PY - 2011/3
Y1 - 2011/3
N2 - The purpose of this study is to explore the attitudes older Chinese adults have about engaging in counseling-based services as measured by a fear of intimacy with helping professionals scale. Data were collected from 150 older adults living in Chongqing, China. Information from this study will be helpful in developing effective strategies for the provision of social work services in China. In contrast with previous research, attitudes about intimacy with helping professionals varied and were normally distributed. Significant predictors of fear of intimacy were level of trust, mental health stigma, family support and friend support. Surprisingly, family and friend support had opposite associations with fear of intimacy. Family support was related to higher fear and friend support to lower fear. The cultural implications of these findings for researchers and social workers working with elderly Chinese clients are discussed.
AB - The purpose of this study is to explore the attitudes older Chinese adults have about engaging in counseling-based services as measured by a fear of intimacy with helping professionals scale. Data were collected from 150 older adults living in Chongqing, China. Information from this study will be helpful in developing effective strategies for the provision of social work services in China. In contrast with previous research, attitudes about intimacy with helping professionals varied and were normally distributed. Significant predictors of fear of intimacy were level of trust, mental health stigma, family support and friend support. Surprisingly, family and friend support had opposite associations with fear of intimacy. Family support was related to higher fear and friend support to lower fear. The cultural implications of these findings for researchers and social workers working with elderly Chinese clients are discussed.
KW - China
KW - Fear of intimacy
KW - Helping services
KW - Informal support
KW - Mental health stigma
KW - Older adults
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79952991339&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10823-010-9132-8
U2 - 10.1007/s10823-010-9132-8
DO - 10.1007/s10823-010-9132-8
M3 - Article
C2 - 21161356
AN - SCOPUS:79952991339
SN - 0169-3816
VL - 26
SP - 71
EP - 83
JO - Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology
JF - Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology
IS - 1
ER -
