Psychometric properties of the attitudes toward receiving professional psychological services scale in a sample of Iranian older adults

Studies show that attitude toward seeking psychological help significantly contributes to the receiving professional psychological services. Thus, measuring the attitude toward these services has been imperative for researchers and policymakers.

Regarding the lack of a proper scale, the purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the attitudes toward receiving professional psychological services scale-short form (ATSPPH-S) among the Iranian older adults.

This cross-sectional (descriptive) study using a multistage cluster sampling technique was conducted on a sample of 200 community-dwelling people aged 60 years and above in Tehran city. Psychometric evaluation of ATSPPH-S was assessed through face validity and confirmatory factor analysis. The WHO well-being scale (WHO-5) was employed for predictive validity. Moreover, internal consistency reliability was examined by Cronbach's alpha.

Face validity of the scale was accepted by the expert panel after reviewing and revising. The scale had a significant and positive correlation with WHO-5(r=0.26). The CFA revealed that the ATSPPH-S structure was a valid model (CMIN = 2.229, GFI = 0.929, CFI = 0.943, RMSEA = 0.079). The ATSPPH-S Cronbach's alpha was 0.84.

The results showed ATSPPH-S is a valid and reliable scale for measuring attitude toward receiving mental health services among Iranian older adults. Therefore, the ATSPPH-S can be used in future research after more consideration.