Vinson, Corinne (2021) The Influence of Older Age and Rural Location on Telepsychology Attitudes and Help-Seeking Behaviour. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
There exists a discrepancy in access to mental health treatment for rural adults, with Australia’s vast geography, and coastal-centric population producing a disparity in access to mental health care. In addition, mental health conditions are prevalent amongst older adults, who also maintain a higher threshold for help-seeking. As a result, rural older adults have been identified as an at-risk group for unmet mental health care needs. This study aims to add to the burgeoning literature regarding help-seeking behaviour for mental health conditions for rural older adults. It also aims to assess attitudes towards telepsychology as a possible solution for this group. An online cross-sectional survey was completed by 241 participants. The Modified Monash Model was used to categorise participants into urban, regional, and rural locations for analyses. Age was used as a covariate and was categorised into younger adults, middled-age adults, and older adults. A series of ANOVA’s were computed to compare the effects of age and location on intent to seek help, attitudes towards telehealth and attitudes towards telepsychology. Results indicated a significant main effect and an interaction effect for age and location across the study variables. Bonferroni analysis revealed that for age, older age accounted for the most variance for intent to seek help, while location showed significant variance across all groups. These results confirm the assumption that older rural adults will be less likely to seek mental health treatment than their younger urban counterparts, with results also indicating age and location interact to affect attitudes towards telepsychology.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Counselling (1 Jan 2015 - 31 Dec 2021) |
| Supervisors: | Bob Knight; Erich Fein |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 11 Aug 2025 22:57 |
| Last Modified: | 11 Aug 2025 22:57 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | older age ; rural location ; help-seeking behaviour ; telepsychology attitudes ; telehealth attitudes |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52845 |
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