Perceived Public Stigma Toward Psychological Help: Psychometric Validation of the Stigma Scale for Receiving...

Public stigma toward psychological help-seeking is a critical barrier to mental health service utilization, particularly among university students in culturally conservative and academically demanding disciplines such as law. In China, where Confucian values emphasize social conformity and face preservation, law students may internalize societal narratives that associate mental illness with personal weakness, deterring them from accessing psychological services. This study translated and examined the psychometric properties of the Stigma Scale for Receiving Psychological Help (SSRPH) among Chinese law students. A total of 1257 undergraduate law students from five universities in China participated in the study. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted on a randomly selected subsample (n = 628) to examine the scale's factor structure, followed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on a second subsample (n = 629). Results supported a unidimensional factor structure with strong internal consistency (α = 0.82). CFA yielded a good model fit (CFI = 0.97, TLI = 0.95). Significant negative correlations with help-seeking attitudes (r = -0.37, p < 0.001) supported discriminant validity. While further validation is warranted, the Chinese SSRPH appears suitable for assessing perceived public stigma in legal education contexts and may inform future research and program design in stigma reduction and mental health promotion.