An Information Acquisition Approach on How Young Adults Search for Mental Health Professionals

Using a computer-based, information acquisition process tracing task (MouselabWEB), participants (<i>N</i> = 100) were presented with varying types and amounts of information and were tasked with choosing a mental health professional (MHP). Results of this lab-based study indicated that the tendency to engage in heuristically-driven decision-making process increases as MHP choice and cognitive burden increases. When MHP choices are limited, participants tend to acquire information on MHP’s age, treatment orientation, education, and years of experience. As MHP choices increase, MHP gender and ethnicity information were utilized the most, and education and years of experience utilized the least.

采用基于计算机的信息获取过程追踪任务（MouselabWEB），招募了100名被试（N = 100），向其呈现不同类型与数量的信息，要求被试完成心理健康服务提供者（Mental Health Professional，MHP）的选择任务。此项实验室研究结果表明，依赖启发式驱动的决策行为倾向，会随心理健康服务提供者选择范围与认知负荷的提升而增强。当可选心理健康服务提供者数量有限时，被试倾向于采集提供者的年龄、治疗取向、教育背景及从业年限相关信息；而当可选数量增加时，被试最常利用的信息为提供者的性别与种族背景，对教育背景与从业年限信息的参考程度则最低。