This article reports the development and psychometric properties of the 27-item Barriers to Seeking Mental Health Counseling (BMHC) scale, which assesses perceived help-seeking barriers among college-aged students. Across 2 studies involving ethnically diverse samples (e.g., Latinx majority students), the authors provided evidence for this new measure's validity and reliability. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (including a bifactor analysis) provided support for the BMHC scale's multidimensionality reflecting 6 barriers: Negative Perceived Value, Discomfort with Emotions, Ingroup Stigma, Lack of Knowledge, Lack of Access, and Cultural Barriers. Evidence for criterion-related validity was shown through significant but differential correlations with self-stigma, emotional control, and the 4 components of Ajzen's (1991) Theory of Planned Behavior model-attitude, subjective norm of social stigma, perceived behavioral control, and mental health help-seeking intention. Discriminant evidence of validity was established through nonsignificant or small correlations between BMHC subscales and 2 measures of socially desirable responding. The authors also found evidence for incremental validity and measurement invariance across race, and evidence for internal reliability and temporal stability of the BMHC subscales. Findings are discussed in light of the conceptual, methodological, and clinical contributions of the BMHC scale. Public Significance StatementThis project reports a newly developed multidimensional measure assessing six specific types of perceived barriers to seeking mental health counseling, and their associations with various criterions of help-seeking decision making among ethnically diverse college students. Findings could inform prevention, intervention, and counselor training efforts on college campuses to promote college students' psychological well-being.

Female gender has been consistently associated with positive psychological help-seeking attitudes and behaviors; however, surprisingly few empirical studies have examined how femininity-related variables impact women's help-seeking decision making. Informed by the theory of reasoned action (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980), the purpose of this study was (a) to investigate the associations between two femininity constructs-subjective femininity stress and gender solidarity-and psychological help-seeking intention, and (b) to explore the mediating roles of help-seeking attitudes and social stigma using structural equation modeling. Participants were 451 college-enrolled women in Southern California. Results revealed that all the mediation relationships involving help-seeking attitudes and stigma were significant. Subjective femininity stress was positively related to help-seeking intention via help-seeking attitudes, but was negatively related to intention via social stigma. Gender solidarity was positively related to help-seeking intention via positive attitudes and reduced social stigma. Implications for future research, prevention programs, and practice are discussed.

The current research aimed to investigate justifications behind the perception of stealthing—the act of nonconsensual condom removal in previously consented intercourse. Based upon an article by Brodsky that conducted real-life interviews of stealthing activities, justifications for the act were experimentally manipulated after the participants read a scenario involving a depiction of stealthing. A four (Justification: Control, Instinct, Right, Pleasure) × two (Participant Gender: female, male) multivariate analysis on the assessment of various criminality, morality, harm, blame/responsibility items yielded a significant difference in terms of rape determination, but not other criminality measures. Implications for future research are discussed.

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