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. 2026 Jul 21;26:2972. doi: 10.1186/s12889-026-28632-2

Teaching profession, connection to psychology, and perceptions of psychologists in association with psychological help-seeking intentions: a cross-sectional study

Martin Sedlár 1,✉, Michael Fuchs 2
PMCID: PMC13670660  PMID: 42477683

Abstract

Background

Teaching is linked to elevated mental health risks, yet little is known about teachers’ psychological help-seeking intentions (PHSI), defined as intentions to seek professional help from a psychologist. This study examines whether the teaching profession, as an occupational factor, is indirectly associated with PHSI through two categories of psychology-related factors: connection to psychology and perceptions of psychologists. Connection to psychology encompasses interest in psychology and positive and negative contact with psychologists, while perceptions of psychologists comprise trust in psychologists and self-stigma of psychological help-seeking.

Methods

The study sample consisted of 1,101 in-service school teachers and a comparison group of 600 non-teachers from the Slovak general population, allowing the teaching profession to be treated as a categorical variable. Participants completed an online survey assessing the main variables (interest, contact, trust, self-stigma, and PHSI) alongside control variables (sex, age, education, residence, self-rated mental health, and self-reliance).

Results

Being in the teaching profession was associated with greater interest in psychology and more frequent positive and negative contact with psychologists. Greater interest, more frequent positive contact, and less frequent negative contact were each associated with higher trust in psychologists and lower self-stigma of psychological help-seeking. Higher trust and lower self-stigma were, in turn, associated with greater PHSI. Unexpectedly, the teaching profession was also associated with lower trust in psychologists, which was associated with lower PHSI.

Conclusion

These findings contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the interplay between occupational and psychology-related factors in relation to PHSI and may inform efforts to support professional psychological help-seeking among teachers and, more broadly, the general population.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-026-28632-2.

Keywords: Teachers; Psychological help-seeking; Trust in psychologists, Self-stigma of help-seeking; Contact with psychologists; Interest in psychology

Background

Teaching is recognized as one of the most psychologically demanding professions, with levels of burnout, stress, anxiety, and depression often exceeding those observed in other occupations [1, 2]. A recent scoping review focusing on clinically meaningful psychological conditions among teachers reported wide-ranging prevalence estimates—burnout (25.1–74%), stress (8.3–87.1%), anxiety (38–41.2%), and depression (4–77%)—with such variability likely attributable to differences in study designs, measurement instruments, and contexts [1]. Despite these considerable psychological burdens, research on psychological help-seeking among in-service school teachers remains limited [3, 4].

The present study addresses this gap by examining the teaching profession as an occupational factor indirectly associated with the intention to seek professional help from a psychologist when experiencing psychological difficulties [5]. Drawing on prior empirical and theoretical work [6–15], we propose that this association operates through two interrelated conceptual categories of psychology-related factors, introduced to organize related constructs identified in prior research into a more coherent analytical framework. The first category, connection to psychology, comprises interest in psychology [12] and contact with psychologists [13]. The second category, perceptions of psychologists, includes trust in psychologists [14] and self-stigma of seeking psychological help [15].

By examining this set of potential associations, we aim to identify not only which factors are associated with teachers’ intention to seek professional help from a psychologist, but also how these factors may be jointly represented within an analytical framework of indirect associations. Ultimately, these findings may contribute to a more nuanced understanding of teachers’ help-seeking, while providing directions for future research and implications for theory and practice related to mental health support.

Psychological help-seeking intentions and associated factors among teachers

Scholars typically examine three aspects of psychological help-seeking—attitudes, intentions, and behaviors—with attitudes influencing intentions, which in turn influence behaviors [16]. They also distinguish between formal (e.g., psychologists, psychiatrists) and informal (e.g., parents, friends) sources of psychological help [17]. In this study, we focus on psychological help-seeking intentions (PHSI), defined in accordance with White et al. [5] as a conscious plan to communicate about a mental health issue in order to receive support, advice, or assistance aimed at reducing personal distress. Importantly, the term PHSI is used here specifically to refer to intentions to seek professional help from a psychologist.

Although PHSI among in-service school teachers remains under-researched, the existing literature provides several relevant insights. Studies indicate that teachers often delay seeking help for burnout [18] and tend to prefer informal sources of support over formal professional services [19], particularly regarding depressive symptoms [20] and distress following a student suicide [21]. Conversely, some findings suggest that teachers are open to psychological support [22] and generally hold positive attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help [3, 23].

Regarding factors associated with teachers’ PHSI, previous research suggests that facilitators may include prior therapy or counseling experience [3, 4, 24], social support for accessing therapy, supportive logistical conditions [4], greater severity of depressive symptoms [20, 24], and higher levels of depression and anxiety literacy [23, 25]. Barriers may include mental health and therapy-related stigma, lack of knowledge about therapy, insufficient motivation to pursue therapy, and limited accessibility to therapy [4].

Despite this emerging evidence, the factors associated with PHSI, and how they interrelate, remain insufficiently understood. To further clarify these relationships, we propose that the teaching profession, as an occupational factor, is indirectly associated with PHSI through two categories of psychology-related factors, introduced here to organize related variables into higher-order conceptual groupings and to improve conceptual clarity. The first category captures connection to psychology, comprising interest in psychology [12] and both positive and negative contact with psychologists [13]. The second category reflects perceptions of psychologists, encompassing trust in psychologists [14] and self-stigma of psychological help-seeking [15].

Association between teaching profession and connection to psychology

Psychology courses are a standard component of initial teacher education programs worldwide [6]. Depending on the country, teachers may also be required or encouraged to participate in continuing professional development [26], which often includes psychological content. These educational experiences facilitate a connection to psychological content among both pre-service and in-service teachers. Interest in psychology, conceptualized as a personal attraction to the field [12, 27], represents an internal, personal connection to psychology. Such interest may develop as a byproduct of educational experiences and may also partially motivate individuals to pursue a teaching career. Importantly, prior research indicates that teachers generally report relatively high levels of interest in psychological content [28–30].

Furthermore, psychology courses for both pre-service and in-service teachers are typically taught by university faculty with doctoral degrees in psychology, some of whom may also have practical experience as psychologists. In addition, in-service teachers collaborate with school psychologists in professional settings [7]. Within these educational and professional contexts, teachers’ contact with psychologists may vary in frequency and valence, encompassing positive encounters (e.g., receiving constructive academic feedback or engaging in collaborative school-based problem-solving) as well as negative experiences (e.g., facing communication difficulties during courses or encountering a perceived lack of professional support in schools). The frequency of such positive and negative contacts represents an external, relational connection to psychology. Given that formal psychology courses and professional practice provide multiple opportunities for interaction, teachers may experience more frequent positive and negative contact with psychologists compared to non-teachers, although this assumption has yet to be empirically tested.

Association between connection to psychology and perceptions of psychologists

As noted above, perceptions of psychologists represent one of the key conceptual categories introduced in the present study. Within this category, trust in psychologists can be defined as a willingness to be vulnerable to psychologists’ actions, encompassing perceived trustfulness and perceived trustworthiness of psychologists [31]. In parallel, self-stigma of psychological help-seeking refers to an individual’s perception that seeking help from a psychologist would diminish or threaten their self-worth [32].

Although direct evidence is lacking, interest in psychology may be associated with these perceptions. This association may manifest through behaviors such as attending psychology courses or reading psychology literature, which have been linked to more favorable views of psychology as a discipline and of psychologists as professionals [8–10, 33–35]. While such behaviors may partly reflect required coursework or professional development, they also serve as indicators of individual interest, which naturally varies among teachers.

In contrast, the association between contact with psychologists and these perceptions is supported by the contact hypothesis [36] and empirical findings [37–40]. The contact hypothesis posits that increased interactions with members of different social groups may be associated with reduced prejudice and more positive attitudes [36]. Consistent with this framework, research on perceptions of psychologists shows that contact with psychologists—including utilization of psychological services for mental health support—is associated with more favorable perceptions: higher trust in psychologists, lower stigma of help-seeking, and a stronger inclination to seek psychological help [11, 13, 37–40]. Similar findings have been observed among teachers [3, 4, 24]. However, contact alone may not be sufficient, as the valence of contact—whether perceived as positive or negative—appears to play a more decisive role [13, 41, 42].

Association between perceptions of psychologists and psychological help-seeking intentions

Associations between perceptions of psychologists—namely trust in psychologists and self-stigma of psychological help-seeking—and PHSI have not yet been examined among teachers. However, substantial evidence is available from studies conducted in the general population; specifically, higher trust in psychologists and other mental health professionals has been found to be associated with more favorable psychological help-seeking attitudes, intentions, and behaviors [11, 14, 41–45].

Self-stigma of psychological help-seeking arises through the internalization of public stigma [46, 47], understood as an individual’s perception that society views psychological help-seeking as undesirable and shameful [48]. While public stigma and self-stigma are strongly positively correlated [15], studies have shown that both are negatively related to help-seeking, with self-stigma often exhibiting a more robust inverse relationship with help-seeking than public stigma [15, 37, 49].

Aim and hypotheses

Our study examines whether the teaching profession is indirectly associated with PHSI through two categories of psychology-related factors: connection to psychology (interest in psychology and positive and negative contact with psychologists) and perceptions of psychologists (trust in psychologists and self-stigma of psychological help-seeking).

Specifically, based on the literature reviewed above, we hypothesize that, compared to the general population of non-teachers, being in the teaching profession is associated with greater interest in psychology (H1), more frequent positive contact with psychologists (H2), and more frequent negative contact with psychologists (H3).

We further hypothesize that higher interest in psychology is associated with higher trust in psychologists (H4) and lower self-stigma of psychological help-seeking (H5); that more frequent positive contact is associated with higher trust in psychologists (H6) and lower self-stigma of psychological help-seeking (H7); and that more frequent negative contact is associated with lower trust in psychologists (H8) and higher self-stigma of psychological help-seeking (H9).

Finally, higher trust in psychologists is hypothesized to be associated with greater PHSI (H10), whereas higher self-stigma of psychological help-seeking is hypothesized to be associated with lower PHSI (H11). The proposed parallel-serial indirect association model is presented in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1.

Fig. 1

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Conceptual model of hypothesized paths constituting the indirect associations. The "+" symbol indicates a positive association and the "–" symbol indicates a negative association

Methods

Participants and procedure

The research sample comprised 1,701 participants—1,101 teachers and 600 non-teachers from the general Slovak population. Detailed characteristics of the sample are presented in Table 1. Teachers were recruited via email invitations sent to principals of kindergartens, primary schools, and secondary schools. Non-teachers were recruited via the National Sample agency, which adheres to the standards and regulations of the General Data Protection Regulation and the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research. The agency recruited participants through its proprietary online panel, with instructions to exclude individuals currently employed as kindergarten, primary school, or secondary school teachers. Participants received panel points as compensation, exchangeable for monetary rewards in accordance with the panel provider’s standardized incentive scheme.

Table 1.

Participant characteristics

Full sample
N = 1,701		 Non-teachers
n = 600		 Teachers
n = 1,101
Sex
 Male 422 (24.8%) 300 (50.0%) 122 (11.1%)
 Female 1,279 (75.2%) 300 (50.0%) 979 (88.9%)
Age (in years)
 Range 19–78 19–78 21–68
 M (SD) 46.63 (11.09) 46.73 (12.98) 46.58 (9.93)
Education
 Primary 14 (0.8%) 14 (2.3%) 0 (0.0%)
 Secondary without leaving exam 222 (13.1%) 222 (37.0%) 0 (0.0%)
 Secondary with leaving exam 300 (17.6%) 230 38.3%) 70 (6.4%)
 Bachelor’s degree 59 (3.5%) 14 (2.3%) 45 (4.1%)
 Master’s degree 1,058 (62.2%) 114 (19.0%) 944 (85.7%)
 Doctoral degree 48 (2.8%) 6 (1.0%) 42 (3.8%)
Residence
 Farm or countryside house 49 (2.9%) 14 (2.3%) 35 (3.2%)
 Village 591 (34.7%) 233 (38.8%) 358 (32.5%)
 Small town 613 (36.0%) 186 (31.0%) 427 (38.8%)
 Suburb or periphery of a big city 96 (5.6%) 38 (6.3%) 58 (5.3%)
 Big city 352 (20.7%) 129 (21.5%) 223 (20.3%)
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The online survey was hosted on Qualtrics, and data were collected in March 2023. An introductory section of the survey included an informed consent form, outlining the study’s purpose and participant conditions. Following consent, all participants were asked to verify group membership: “Are you currently working as a kindergarten, primary, or secondary school teacher?” with two response options (1 = no, 2 = yes), corresponding to the two groups (1 = non-teachers, 2 = teachers). Subsequently, the same instruments measuring the main and control variables were administered to all participants. All instruments were either adapted or newly developed for Slovak participants based on the original English versions, using a standard back-translation procedure. Detailed descriptions of the instruments, including adaptation procedures and references to the original studies, are provided below. The full item wordings of the adapted and newly developed main measures, translated into English, are available in the Supplementary Material. The survey also included two attention-check items to identify and exclude careless respondents. The dataset and corresponding methods are publicly available in the Open Science Framework repository (https://osf.io/wcy24). The data analyzed in this study form part of a larger research project.

Measures

Psychological help-seeking intentions

PHSI were measured using items developed based on an instrument assessing help-seeking intentions [50], which was designed in accordance with recommendations for constructing intention measures [51]. This unidimensional scale comprises six positively worded items (e.g., If I thought I had a serious psychological problem, I would intend to seek help from a psychologist.). Participants responded on a 5-point scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using maximum likelihood extraction and oblimin rotation indicated excellent sampling adequacy (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin = 0.94) and significant item intercorrelation (Bartlett’s χ²(15) = 11516.0, p < .001). A single factor emerged based on the eigenvalue criterion (> 1), accounting for 80.6% of the total variance. Internal consistency reliability was excellent (ω = 0.96). Higher mean scores indicate greater intentions to seek professional psychological help.

Interest in psychology

Interest in psychology was measured using three items derived from a prior study [12]. It captured interest in general (To what extent are you interested in the field of psychology?), its affective aspect (To what extent do you enjoy and find the field of psychology fascinating?), and its value aspect (To what extent do you consider the field of psychology important and meaningful?). Participants responded on a 5-point scale (1 = not at all, 5 = extremely). An EFA using maximum likelihood extraction indicated acceptable sampling adequacy (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin = 0.65) and significant item intercorrelation (Bartlett’s χ²(3) = 2308.6, p < .001). A single factor emerged (eigenvalue > 1), explaining 64.7% of the variance, supporting the unidimensionality of the three-item scale. Internal consistency reliability was very good (ω = 0.84). Higher mean scores represent greater interest in psychology.

Positive and negative contact with psychologists

Contact with psychologists was measured using two adapted items from the valenced contact measure [52]. One question assessed past positive contact (How often have you had any positive contact [encounter or experience] with psychologists so far?), and the other assessed past negative contact (How often have you had any negative contact [encounter or experience] with psychologists so far?). Positive and negative contact were not further defined and were intended to capture participants’ subjective evaluation of their encounters or experiences. Participants responded on a 6-point scale (1 = never, 6 = very often). Higher scores indicate more frequent past positive or negative contact with psychologists.

Trust in psychologists

Trust in psychologists was measured using items to assess self-focused and other-focused trust [31]. A measure of trustfulness [53] was adapted to assess self-focused trust in psychologists, consisting of four positively worded items (e.g., My tendency to trust psychologists is high.). A measure of trustworthiness components (benevolence, integrity, competence) [54] was adapted to assess other-focused trust in psychologists, consisting of 15 positively worded items (e.g., Psychologists really do care about the well-being of their clients.). Participants responded to all items on a 5-point scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). An EFA using maximum likelihood extraction and oblimin rotation indicated excellent sampling adequacy (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin = 0.97) and significant item intercorrelation (Bartlett’s χ²(171) = 25019.0, p < .001). Two factors emerged based on the eigenvalue criterion (> 1), together explaining 61.7% of the total variance, with an inter-factor correlation of 0.66. These factors align with the proposed self-focused and other-focused trust. Internal consistency reliability was excellent for self-focused trust (ω = 0.92), other-focused trust (ω = 0.95), and the overall scale (ω = 0.96). Higher mean scores indicate higher trust in psychologists.

Self-stigma of psychological help-seeking

Self-stigma of psychological help-seeking was measured using a modified version of the Self-Stigma of Seeking Help scale [55], in which the term “therapist” was replaced with “psychologist” and “professional help” with “professional psychological help.” This scale consists of seven items (e.g., I would feel inadequate if I went to a psychologist for help.), two of which are reverse-scored. Participants responded on a 5-point scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). An EFA using maximum likelihood extraction and oblimin rotation indicated good sampling adequacy (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin = 0.84) and significant item intercorrelation (Bartlett’s χ²(21) = 4147.34, p < .001). A single factor emerged based on the eigenvalue criterion (> 1), accounting for 41.8% of the total variance. Internal consistency reliability was very good (ω = 0.83). Higher mean scores indicate greater self-stigma.

Control variables

Participants reported their sex (1 = male, 2 = female), age (in years), education level (1 = primary education, 2 = secondary education without leaving exam, 3 = secondary education with leaving exam, 4 = Bachelor’s degree, 5 = Master’s degree, 6 = Doctoral degree), and residence (1 = farm or countryside house, 2 = village, 3 = small town, 4 = suburb or periphery of a big city, 5 = big city). They also assessed their self-rated mental health (In general, how would you rate your current mental status?) on a 5-point scale (1 = very bad, 5 = very good), and their level of self-reliance (In general, how often do you solve problems on your own without seeking help from other people?) on a 7-point scale (1 = never, 7 = always).

Statistical analyses

All analyses were conducted in Jamovi and SPSS. Exploratory factor analyses were first performed on the newly created or adapted measures, followed by reliability analyses (McDonald’s ω) and correlation analyses (Pearson’s r). Indirect effects were subsequently analyzed using SPSS syntax with the PROCESS macro (version 4.2) [56]. A parallel-serial indirect association model was constructed to test the hypothesis that the predictor (teaching profession) is related to three parallel mediators (interest in psychology, positive contact with psychologists, and negative contact with psychologists), which, in turn, are serially related to two additional parallel mediators (trust in psychologists and self-stigma of psychological help-seeking). These mediators are subsequently related to the outcome variable (PHSI). The model was tested while adjusting for control variables (sex, age, education, residence, self-rated mental health, and self-reliance). To assess the significance of the indirect associations, bootstrapping with 5,000 samples and 95% confidence intervals was employed. Since the PROCESS macro reports either unstandardized or partially standardized effects for dichotomous variables [56], only these effects are presented for the teaching profession variable (coded 1 = non-teachers, 2 = teachers) and sex (coded 1 = male, 2 = female). For all other variables, both unstandardized and completely standardized effects are reported. Given the cross-sectional nature of the data, the results of indirect effects analyses are interpreted strictly as statistical associations and do not imply causal conclusions. Accordingly, the sequential ordering of variables in the model is theoretically assumed rather than empirically established through temporal precedence.

Results

Descriptive statistics and correlation matrix

The correlation analysis for the full sample (Table 2) revealed statistically significant correlations ranging from very weak to moderate in magnitude. The teaching profession was positively correlated with interest in psychology, positive contact with psychologists, negative contact with psychologists, and PHSI, and negatively correlated with self-stigma. Interest in psychology was positively correlated with trust in psychologists and PHSI, and negatively correlated with self-stigma. Positive contact with psychologists was positively correlated with trust in psychologists and PHSI, and negatively correlated with self-stigma. Negative contact with psychologists was negatively correlated with trust in psychologists and positively correlated with self-stigma. Finally, trust in psychologists was positively correlated with PHSI, whereas self-stigma was negatively correlated with PHSI. Descriptive statistics and correlation matrices for non-teachers and teachers are provided separately in the Supplementary Material (Supplementary Tables S1 and S2).

Table 2.

Descriptive statistics and correlation matrix for the full sample

Variable M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
1. Teaching profession 1.65 0.48 —
2. Interest in psychology 3.24 0.80 0.34*** —
3. Positive contact with psychologists 3.16 1.51 0.41*** 0.44*** —
4. Negative contact with psychologists 1.79 1.10 0.22*** 0.11*** 0.27*** —
5. Trust in psychologists 3.48 0.55 0.04 0.32*** 0.32*** –0.32*** —
6. Self-stigma of help-seeking 2.36 0.59 –0.14*** –0.34*** –0.25*** 0.08*** –0.36*** —
7. Psychological help-seeking intentions 4.00 0.79 0.08** 0.28*** 0.24*** –0.09*** 0.45*** –0.35*** —
8. Sex 1.75 0.43 0.43*** 0.24*** 0.22*** 0.08*** 0.07** –0.15*** 0.17*** —
9. Age 46.63 11.09 –0.01 –0.08** 0.00 0.02 –0.07** 0.02 –0.05 0.07** —
10. Education 4.22 1.21 0.73*** 0.32*** 0.36*** 0.19*** 0.05* –0.15*** 0.06** 0.22*** 0.03 —
11. Residence 3.07 1.16 0.00 0.07** 0.06** 0.04 0.05 –0.09*** 0.03 –0.05* –0.04 0.08** —
12. Self-rated mental health 3.84 0.86 0.05* 0.01 0.00 –0.05* 0.02 –0.12*** –0.05* –0.02 0.04 0.04 0.02 —
13. Self-reliance 5.22 1.27 0.01 0.02 –0.01 0.05 –0.09*** 0.06** –0.09*** –0.02 0.04 0.03 0.01 0.03
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N = 1,701. Teaching profession was coded as 1 = non-teachers and 2 = teachers. Sex was coded as 1 = male and 2 = female. * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001

Model testing

Prior to model testing, multicollinearity was assessed among predictors, mediators, and control variables by calculating the variance inflation factor (VIF) and tolerance statistics (TS). All VIF values were below 3 (ranging from 1.02 to 2.76), and all TS values exceeded 0.1 (ranging from 0.36 to 0.98), indicating that the regression coefficient estimates were not biased by multicollinearity.

The results of model testing are presented in Tables 3 and 4 and illustrated in Fig. 2. The analysis confirmed all hypothesized relationships H1–H11 (Table 3). The teaching profession was positively associated with interest in psychology, positive contact with psychologists, and negative contact with psychologists. Interest in psychology and positive contact with psychologists were positively associated with trust in psychologists and negatively associated with self-stigma of psychological help-seeking, whereas negative contact with psychologists showed the opposite pattern. Furthermore, trust in psychologists was positively associated with PHSI, whereas self-stigma of psychological help-seeking was negatively associated with PHSI. Unexpectedly, the teaching profession was also negatively associated with trust in psychologists, and interest in psychology was positively associated with PHSI. Notably, all associations remained significant after adjusting for control variables, some of which were also significantly related to PHSI (Table 3).

Table 3.

Path coefficients for the tested model

Variable b SE β t p
Outcome: Interest in psychology — — — — —
 Teaching profession 0.25 0.06 0.31 4.15 < 0.001
 Sex 0.28 0.05 0.15 5.91 < 0.001
 Age –0.01 0.002 –0.09 –3.97 < 0.001
 Education 0.11 0.02 0.17 5.15 < 0.001
 Residence 0.04 0.02 0.06 2.71 0.007
 Self-rated mental health 0.01 0.02 0.01 0.24 0.811
 Self-reliance 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.95 0.344
R2 = 0.15, F(7, 1693) = 44.07, p < .001 — — — — —
Outcome: Positive contact with psychologists — — — — —
 Teaching profession 0.88 0.11 0.58 7.83 < 0.001
 Sex 0.25 0.09 0.07 2.93 0.003
 Age –0.001 0.003 –0.004 –0.16 0.871
 Education 0.17 0.04 0.14 4.13 < 0.001
 Residence 0.07 0.03 0.06 2.56 0.011
 Self-rated mental health –0.03 0.04 –02 –0.74 0.458
 Self-reliance –0.02 0.03 –02 –0.69 0.489
R2 = 0.18, F(7, 1693) = 54.08, p < .001 — — — — —
Outcome: Negative contact with psychologists — — — — —
 Teaching profession 0.41 0.09 0.37 4.63 < 0.001
 Sex –0.02 0.07 –0.01 –0.25 0.802
 Age 0.002 0.002 0.02 0.88 0.380
 Education 0.06 0.03 0.06 1.73 0.084
 Residence 0.03 0.02 0.03 1.32 0.187
 Self-rated mental health –08 0.03 –0.06 –2.60 0.009
 Self-reliance 0.04 0.02 0.04 1.76 0.078
R2 = 0.06, F(7, 1693) = 14.34, p < .001 — — — — —
Outcome: Trust in psychologists — — — — —
 Teaching profession –0.11 0.04 –0.21 –3.00 0.003
 Interest in psychology 0.16 0.02 0.24 10.45 < 0.001
 Positive contact with psychologists 0.13 0.01 0.36 15.05 < 0.001
 Negative contact with psychologists –0.21 0.01 –0.42 –19.91 < 0.001
 Sex 0.02 0.03 0.01 0.57 0.566
 Age –0.002 0.001 –0.04 –1.85 0.064
 Education –0.001 0.01 –0.002 –0.06 0.955
 Residence 0.01 0.01 0.02 1.00 0.319
 Self-rated mental health 0.001 0.01 0.002 0.11 0.914
 Self-reliance –0.03 0.01 –0.07 –3.60 <0.001
R2 = 0.33, F(10, 1690) = 83.12, p < .001 — — — — —
Outcome: Self-stigma of help-seeking — — — — —
 Teaching profession 0.08 0.05 0.14 1.86 0.062
 Interest in psychology –0.19 0.02 –0.26 –10.29 < 0.001
 Positive contact with psychologists –0.06 0.01 –0.16 –6.04 < 0.001
 Negative contact with psychologists 0.08 0.01 0.15 6.41 < 0.001
 Sex –0.12 0.03 –0.09 –3.45 < 0.001
 Age 0.0003 0.001 0.01 0.22 0.825
 Education –0.03 0.02 –0.06 –1.73 0.083
 Residence –0.03 0.01 –0.07 –2.93 0.003
 Self-rated mental health –0.08 0.02 –0.12 –5.25 < 0.001
 Self-reliance 0.03 0.01 0.06 2.90 0.004
R2 = 0.18, F(10, 1690) = 36.27, p < .001 — — — — —
Outcome: Psychological help-seeking intentions — — — — —
 Teaching profession –0.09 0.06 –0.11 –1.53 0.125
 Interest in psychology 0.08 0.02 0.08 3.17 0.002
 Positive contact with psychologists 0.02 0.01 0.04 1.45 0.147
 Negative contact with psychologists 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.81 0.419
 Trust in psychologists 0.49 0.04 0.34 13.21 < 0.001
 Self-stigma of help-seeking –0.26 0.03 –0.19 –8.21 < 0.001
 Sex 0.20 0.04 0.11 4.50 < 0.001
 Age –0.001 0.002 –0.02 –0.74 0.451
 Education –0.002 0.02 –0.003 –0.09 0.930
 Residence –0.004 0.01 –0.005 –0.26 0.798
 Self-rated mental health –0.07 0.02 –0.07 –3.49 < 0.001
 Self-reliance –0.02 0.01 –0.04 –1.86 0.063
R2 = 0.27, F(12, 1688) = 52.70, p < .001 — — — — —
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N = 1,701. b = unstandardized coefficient; β = standardized (partially standardized for dichotomous variables) coefficient. Dichotomous variables were coded as follows: teaching profession (1 = non-teachers, 2 = teachers), sex (1 = male, 2 = female)

Table 4.

Indirect effects of the tested model

Pathway b Boot SE 95% Boot CI β Boot SE 95% Boot CI
LL UL LL UL
T → IP → PHSI 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.04 0.03 0.01 0.01 0.05
T → PCP → PHSI 0.02 0.01 –0.01 0.04 0.02 0.02 –0.01 0.05
T → NCP → PHSI 0.01 0.01 –0.01 0.02 0.01 0.01 –0.01 0.03
T → TP → PHSI –0.06 0.02 –0.09 –0.02 –0.07 0.02 –0.12 –0.03
T → SSPHS → PHSI –0.02 0.01 –0.05 0.001 –0.03 0.02 –0.06 0.002
T → IP → TP → PHSI 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.03 0.03 0.01 0.01 0.04
T → IP → SSPHS → PHSI 0.01 0.004 0.006 0.02 0.02 0.005 0.01 0.03
T → PCP → TP → PHSI 0.06 0.01 0.04 0.08 0.07 0.01 0.05 0.10
T → PCP → SSPHS → PHSI 0.01 0.004 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.005 0.01 0.03
T → NCP → TP → PHSI –0.04 0.01 –0.06 –0.02 –0.05 0.01 –0.08 –0.03
T → NCP → SSPHS → PHSI –0.01 0.003 –0.01 –0.004 –0.01 0.003 –0.02 –0.01
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N = 1,701. T Teaching profession, IP Interest in psychology, PCP Positive contact with psychologists, NCP Negative contact with psychologists, TP Trust in psychologists, SSPHS Self-stigma of psychological help-seeking, PHSI Psychological help-seeking intentions. b = unstandardized coefficient; β = partially standardized coefficient

Fig. 2.

Fig. 2

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Tested model showing significant paths constituting the indirect associations. Partially standardized regression coefficients are presented for the teaching profession variable, whereas fully standardized regression coefficients are presented for all other variables. Control variables are omitted for clarity. *** p < .001, ** p < .01

The indirect effects presented in Table 4 supported our hypothesized parallel-serial indirect association model. The teaching profession was positively associated with PHSI through greater interest in psychology and more frequent positive contact with psychologists, which in turn were associated with higher trust in psychologists and lower self-stigma. Conversely, the teaching profession was negatively associated with PHSI through more frequent negative contact with psychologists, which was subsequently associated with lower trust in psychologists and higher self-stigma. In addition to these hypothesized indirect associations, the teaching profession was positively associated with PHSI through greater interest in psychology alone, and negatively associated with PHSI through lower trust in psychologists alone.

Discussion

Given the limited research on teachers’ PHSI [3, 4] and the substantially elevated levels of stress, anxiety, and depression among teachers relative to non-teachers [1, 2], the present study aimed to address this gap in the literature. Overall, our findings support the hypothesized parallel-serial indirect association model. Being in the teaching profession was indirectly associated with PHSI through two conceptual categories of factors: connection to psychology (interest in psychology and positive and negative contact with psychologists) and perceptions of psychologists (trust in psychologists and self-stigma of psychological help-seeking). Specifically, compared to non-teachers, teachers reported greater interest in psychology and more frequent positive and negative contact with psychologists. In turn, greater interest, more frequent positive contact, and less frequent negative contact were associated with higher trust in psychologists and lower self-stigma of psychological help-seeking. Subsequently, higher trust and lower self-stigma were associated with greater intentions to seek professional help from a psychologist. The findings also revealed associations beyond those included in the initial hypothesized model.

Association between teaching profession and connection to psychology

One of our key findings is that being in the teaching profession, as an occupational factor, was associated with greater interest in psychology and more frequent positive and negative contact with psychologists. This finding was expected based on the reasonable assumption that initial teacher education and subsequent teaching practice are closely connected to psychological content and interactions with psychologists. Support for this assumption comes from the integration of psychology courses and topics into teacher education and professional development programs [6, 26]. Participation in these programs naturally increases the likelihood of developing an interest in psychology, as has been observed among teachers [28–30]. Further support stems from the fact that these courses are typically delivered by university faculty holding doctoral degrees in psychology, some of whom also have experience as practicing psychologists. Moreover, teachers regularly collaborate with school psychologists in professional settings [7]. Taken together, our findings indicate that teaching is a profession characterized by a relatively high degree of connection to psychology.

Association between connection to psychology and perceptions of psychologists

The analysis revealed that factors capturing connection to psychology were associated with perceptions of psychologists, assessed through trust in psychologists and self-stigma of psychological help-seeking. Specifically, greater interest in psychology was associated with higher trust in psychologists and lower self-stigma of psychological help-seeking. These findings are both important and novel, as no previous research has examined the associations among these constructs. However, existing literature offers indirect support; for example, engaging in psychology courses or reading psychology books—both indicators of interest in psychology—has been shown to be associated with more favorable perceptions of psychology and psychologists [8–10, 33–35]. These results are consistent with the theoretical framework of interest [12, 27], which posits that an individual’s interest in a subject inherently involves a positive orientation—valuing the subject and experiencing positive feelings toward it. In the present study, such an orientation toward psychology emerged as a potentially relevant factor associated with more favorable perceptions of psychologists and their work.

Consistent with the contact hypothesis, which posits that increased intergroup contact is associated with more positive attitudes [36], more frequent positive and less frequent negative contact with psychologists were associated with higher trust in psychologists and lower self-stigma of psychological help-seeking. Previous studies have also reported associations between contact with psychologists and perceptions of psychologists [11, 13, 37–40]. However, these studies did not differentiate between positive and negative contact—characteristics that appear to be more influential than contact alone [13, 41, 42]. Extending this work, our findings suggest that both the frequency and valence of contact with psychologists may be important for understanding perceptions of psychologists.

Association between perceptions of psychologists and psychological help-seeking intentions

Both factors representing perceptions of psychologists—higher trust in psychologists and lower self-stigma of psychological help-seeking—were associated with greater PHSI. These findings align with prior research demonstrating that individuals who trust mental health professionals tend to seek professional help for mental health concerns [11, 14, 41–45]. Similarly, prior studies have found that lower self-stigma of seeking professional help is associated with a greater likelihood of help-seeking, whereas higher self-stigma is associated with reduced help-seeking [15, 37, 49]. Importantly, trust in psychologists showed a substantially stronger association with PHSI than self-stigma, highlighting its prominent role as a correlate of intentions to seek professional psychological help.

Additional associations

Although not hypothesized, our findings also showed that greater interest in psychology was significantly associated with greater PHSI, albeit with a small effect size. When help-seeking from psychologists is viewed as a specific expression of interest-related activity that broadens one’s psychological knowledge, this association becomes theoretically understandable and consistent with previous findings [34]. Individuals interested in psychology may be more inclined to think about psychologists, increasing the likelihood of considering professional psychological help when facing mental health challenges.

Unexpectedly, the teaching profession showed a negative association with trust in psychologists. Specifically, even after controlling for factors capturing connection to psychology, being in the teaching profession was associated with lower trust in psychologists. This finding does not, however, indicate uniformly lower trust among teachers, as other associations with trust in the model were in different directions. Instead, it suggests that additional factors beyond connection to psychology may be relevant for understanding teachers’ trust in psychologists. We therefore propose six exploratory, theory-driven hypotheses for future research that may account for this unexpected finding.

First, teachers may identify with their professional in-group and view psychologists as an out-group—members of a different profession with distinct values and methods—potentially contributing to an “us-versus-them” mentality and leading to inter-professional conflict [57]. Second, teachers may adopt a caregiver identity—expected to give rather than receive help—while psychologists may be perceived as external specialists intervening in teachers’ professional domain [58]. Third, interactions may lack equal status, with teachers perceiving psychologists as having higher status due to imposed solutions or mandated referrals, further contributing to inter-professional tension [36]. Fourth, teachers may compare themselves to psychologists and view them as “experts” on emotional or behavioral issues, giving rise to feelings of inferiority, judgment, or misunderstanding [59]. Fifth, despite substantial psychological knowledge, teachers may face subjective norms—such as school culture or peer attitudes—that stigmatize psychological help as a sign of weakness or discourage openness toward psychologists [60]. Sixth, perceived systemic barriers, such as unclear psychological procedures or limited influence over psychological interventions, may reduce teachers’ perceived behavioral control and, consequently, contribute to less favorable perceptions of psychologists [60].

Strengths and limitations

Several notable strengths underscore the contributions of this study. To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine intentions to seek professional psychological help using a model that integrates both occupational and psychology-related factors. By focusing on teachers—a population frequently overlooked in the help-seeking literature—this research addresses an important gap in the field. The study was also based on a large sample (N = 1,701) comprising both in-service teachers and non-teachers from the general population, thereby increasing statistical power and supporting the generalizability of the observed associations.

These strengths are further supported by the study’s measurement and analytical design. Rather than relying on simplified variables, the measures were designed to capture the multifaceted nature of the constructs under investigation. Specifically, contact with psychologists was operationalized in terms of both frequency and valence, whereas interest in psychology incorporated both affective and value components. In addition, the development of a comprehensive measure of trust in psychologists enabled the simultaneous assessment of trustfulness and perceived trustworthiness. These measurement features were complemented by the inclusion of relevant control variables, allowing for a more precise estimation of the associations of interest.

Alongside these strengths, several limitations should be considered when interpreting the findings. A primary limitation is the cross-sectional design and reliance on self-report measures, which constrain the interpretation of the indirect effects. Because all data were collected at a single time point, causal interpretations are precluded, and definitive conclusions regarding the temporal ordering of variables cannot be drawn. Furthermore, experimental manipulation was not feasible, as professional status (teacher versus non-teacher) is a naturally occurring characteristic that cannot be randomly assigned. Consequently, the findings should be interpreted as preliminary evidence of potentially relevant associations rather than causal effects.

Methodological differences in sample recruitment also warrant caution. The teacher and non-teacher samples were recruited using different procedures (email invitations versus an external survey agency’s online panel) and under different incentive structures (no incentive versus panel points convertible into monetary rewards). Although both approaches are widely accepted in survey research, these differences may have introduced systematic variation in participant motivation or response tendencies. While this potentially affects group comparability, the dual-channel sampling strategy was necessary to effectively reach a highly specific professional group while simultaneously securing a sociodemographically diverse comparison sample of non-teachers from the general population. In addition, the two groups differed in sex composition and educational level, with the teacher group being predominantly female and more highly educated—patterns that reflect known demographic characteristics of the teaching profession but may nonetheless limit group comparability. Taken together, the observed differences in the main variables of interest may reflect not only occupational group membership but also differences in recruitment procedures, incentive structures, and group composition.

Other limitations pertain to measurement. Several measures used in this study were specifically developed for this research. Although internal consistency was satisfactory and the EFA provided preliminary support for their factorial structure, further psychometric validation using established approaches is warranted. The positive and negative contact measures relied on single-item subjective indicators and did not capture the specific context of contact (e.g., participation in psychology-related training, professional collaboration with psychologists, or seeking psychological support). This limitation should be considered when interpreting the findings and their practical implications. Finally, the outcome variable was operationalized as intended rather than actual help-seeking behavior. Although behavioral intentions are generally considered strong predictors of future behavior [51], they do not always translate into action. Accordingly, these findings reflect intentions to seek professional psychological help rather than actual utilization of psychological services.

Future directions

Future research should employ study designs better suited to examining whether the observed associations reflect underlying mechanisms and to clarifying their temporal dynamics. Specifically, longitudinal studies are needed to establish the temporal ordering and stability of these associations, including potential reciprocal relationships over time. Experimental studies could test whether modifying factors such as interest in psychology and the frequency and valence of contact with psychologists lead to higher trust in psychologists, lower self-stigma of psychological help-seeking, and, consequently, greater PHSI. Future research could also distinguish between different contexts of contact with psychologists—such as psychology-related training, professional collaboration, and seeking psychological support—to examine whether these contexts differ in their associations with the study variables. Incorporating behavioral indicators of psychological help-seeking would further clarify the extent to which PHSI translates into the actual utilization of psychological services. It would also be valuable to examine the exploratory hypotheses proposed to account for the unexpected negative association between the teaching profession and trust in psychologists and to identify factors underlying this association. Finally, future research could investigate whether similar patterns of association are observed in other helping and educational professions closely connected to psychology, such as special education teachers or social workers.

Implications

The present study carries several theoretical implications. It advances understanding of PHSI by integrating occupational and psychology-related factors within a single analytical framework, thereby contributing to the broader literature on help-seeking. Profession, connection to psychology, and perceptions of psychologists emerge as distinct yet interrelated correlates of PHSI. The study further introduces connection to psychology as a broader conceptual category encompassing interest in psychology as a personal, internal factor and contact with psychologists as an external, relational factor. The findings also challenge simplistic conceptualizations of contact by demonstrating that it is not mere exposure but rather the valence of contact—captured through positive and negative experiences—that is theoretically relevant for perceptions of psychologists. Finally, the unexpected association between the teaching profession and trust in psychologists points to potentially important but as yet underexplored factors deserving further scientific attention.

The findings also highlight factors that may need to be addressed in practice. At the individual level, teachers may benefit from reflecting on how their perceptions of psychologists may shape their openness to seeking professional help. Awareness that self-stigma of psychological help-seeking may function as a barrier and trust in psychologists as a facilitator could encourage teachers to critically examine their own attitudes toward professional help-seeking. At the institutional level, schools and educational administrators may consider leveraging teachers’ existing connections to psychology as a foundation for supporting PHSI. Fostering interest in psychology and cultivating positive contact between teachers and psychologists may be relevant considerations when designing initiatives aimed at supporting openness to professional help-seeking. Conversely, awareness that negative contact experiences may be associated with less favorable perceptions of psychologists deserves equal consideration, as such experiences could discourage help-seeking among teachers already reluctant to seek formal support. At the policy level, curricula and continuing professional development frameworks may benefit from incorporating opportunities for meaningful engagement with psychologists alongside psychological content.

More broadly, the findings may also have implications for the general population. Public awareness efforts aimed at fostering more positive perceptions of psychologists may contribute to greater intentions to seek professional help across the wider population. Cultivating interest in psychology—whether through educational curricula or science communication—may represent one relevant avenue toward lower self-stigma and higher trust in psychologists. Increasing opportunities for positive contact with psychologists—whether through educational settings or community initiatives—may be similarly relevant. In this context, attention to the valence of contact with psychologists is particularly warranted, as negative encounters may be associated with lower trust and higher self-stigma of psychological help-seeking.

Conclusion

This study found significant indirect associations between the teaching profession and PHSI within a parallel-serial indirect association model involving two interrelated categories of psychology-related factors: connection to psychology (interest in psychology and positive and negative contact with psychologists) and perceptions of psychologists (trust in psychologists and self-stigma of psychological help-seeking). The direction of these indirect associations differed depending on whether they operated through positive or negative components of connection to psychology. Notably, when accounting for these factors, being a teacher was unexpectedly associated with lower PHSI through reduced trust in psychologists—a finding that warrants further theoretical and empirical attention.

Overall, this study highlights profession, connection to psychology, and perceptions of psychologists as relevant and interrelated correlates of PHSI. By integrating these factors within a single analytical framework, it contributes to a more nuanced understanding of how they may be jointly associated with intentions to seek professional psychological help—with implications for teachers, schools, educational policy, and the general population.

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Material 1. (29.5KB, docx)

Acknowledgements

Not applicable.

Abbreviations

PHSI

Psychological help-seeking intentions

EFA

Exploratory factor analysis

VIF

Variance inflation factor

TS

Tolerance statistics

Authors’ contributions

Martin Sedlár: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Investigation, Data curation, Visualization, Funding acquisition, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing. Michael Fuchs: Methodology, Investigation.

Funding

This study was supported by the Scientific Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic and the Slovak Academy of Sciences (Grant No. VEGA 2/0030/24).

Data availability

The dataset and the corresponding methods are publicly available in the Open Science Framework repository (https://osf.io/wcy24).

Declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study adhered to the Declaration of Helsinki. This study was approved by the Ethical Committee of the Centre of Social and Psychological Sciences, Slovak Academy of Sciences (approval number: 02032023). All participants provided electronic informed consent prior to participation in this research.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Footnotes

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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Associated Data

This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.

Supplementary Materials

Supplementary Material 1. (29.5KB, docx)

Data Availability Statement

The dataset and the corresponding methods are publicly available in the Open Science Framework repository (https://osf.io/wcy24).

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