Barriers to Seeking Counseling Among a National Sample of U.S. Physicians: The Revised Fit, Stigma, and Value Scale

Physicians in the United States are a client population facing increased risks for mental distress coupled with a reticence to seek professional counseling.Screening tools with valid scores have utility for helping counselors understand why prospective client populations who might benefit from counseling avoid seeking services.The Revised Fit, Stigma, and Value (RFSV) Scale is a screener for measuring barriers to counseling.The primary aims of the present study were to validate RFSV scores with physicians in the United States and to investigate demographic differences in physicians' RFSV scores.Results revealed that the RFSV Scale and its dimensionality were estimated sufficiently with a national sample of physicians (N = 437).Physicians' RFSV scores were a significant predictor (p = .002,Nagelkerke R 2 = .05) of peer-to-peer referrals to counseling.We also found that male physicians and physicians with help-seeking histories were more sensitive to barriers to counseling than female physicians and physicians without help-seeking histories, respectively.Recommendations for how counselors can use the RFSV Scale when working with physician clients are provided.