Haruhisa Mizuno

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among college students' emotional competence, negative cognition of mental disorders, and treatment fearfulness towards counselors. Three hundred fifty five students were asked to fill out a questionnaire. Researchers collected three hundred twenty five questionnaires and excluded those not completely filled. A total of two hundred ninety one usable responses were finally obtained. The Emotional Competence Scale was analyzed using a factor analysis. It revealed two factors: "Openness and Recognition of One's Emotions" and "Valuing One's Emotional Feelings." A factor analysis on the negative cognition of mental disorder scale yielded three factors: "Lack of Endurance," "Lack of Effort," and "Denying One's Depressive Feelings." The treatment fearfulness of college counselors was assessed using items on "Concerns of counselor responsiveness" and "Stigmas attached to receiving counseling services." Multiple regression analysis was conducted in order to examine the predictors of treatment fearfulness. The results indicated that treatment fearfulness towards the college counselor was predicted by the student's emotional competence and positive recognition of mental disorders. The implications of the results, especially for developing effective intervention program for college students, were discussed.