TY - JOUR
T1 - Treatment via Television
T2 - The Relation Between Watching Dr. Phil and Viewers’ Intentions to Seek Mental Health Treatment
AU - Rasmussen, Eric E.
AU - Ewoldsen, David R.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
PY - 2016/6/2
Y1 - 2016/6/2
N2 - Many people with a mental disorder fail to obtain professional treatment for a diagnosable mental disorder, and some turn to media outlets for diagnosis and treatment recommendations; however, little is known about outcomes associated with exposure to media mental health professionals. We reasoned that exposure to Dr. Phil would be associated with greater intentions to seek mental health treatment for oneself and for one’s child and that this relationship would be serially mediated by higher levels of parasocial relationship with Dr. Phil and greater efficacy beliefs in treating the mental illness of oneself and one’s child. As predicted, frequent viewing of Dr. Phil was associated with higher levels of parasocial relationship with Dr. Phil, which in turn was itself associated with greater efficacy beliefs in treating a mental illness of oneself and of one’s child, which was ultimately related to greater intentions to seek treatment for oneself or for one’s child. The findings suggest that the relationship that develops between media mental health professionals and their audience can encourage intentions to seek mental health treatment.
AB - Many people with a mental disorder fail to obtain professional treatment for a diagnosable mental disorder, and some turn to media outlets for diagnosis and treatment recommendations; however, little is known about outcomes associated with exposure to media mental health professionals. We reasoned that exposure to Dr. Phil would be associated with greater intentions to seek mental health treatment for oneself and for one’s child and that this relationship would be serially mediated by higher levels of parasocial relationship with Dr. Phil and greater efficacy beliefs in treating the mental illness of oneself and one’s child. As predicted, frequent viewing of Dr. Phil was associated with higher levels of parasocial relationship with Dr. Phil, which in turn was itself associated with greater efficacy beliefs in treating a mental illness of oneself and of one’s child, which was ultimately related to greater intentions to seek treatment for oneself or for one’s child. The findings suggest that the relationship that develops between media mental health professionals and their audience can encourage intentions to seek mental health treatment.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84965070753&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/10810730.2015.1114054
DO - 10.1080/10810730.2015.1114054
M3 - Article
C2 - 27144411
AN - SCOPUS:84965070753
SN - 1081-0730
VL - 21
SP - 611
EP - 619
JO - Journal of Health Communication
JF - Journal of Health Communication
IS - 6
ER -