The Professional Counselor | Volume 12, Issue 3 259 The findings of the CFA and HCFA in the present study supported Fit, Stigma, and Value as barriers to counseling among STEM students. However, the deductive nature of quantitative research does not capture the nuances of participants’ lived experiences. One way that future investigators can extend this line of research is through qualitative investigations of STEM students’ attitudes and values about seeking counseling services. Qualitative results might reveal important nuances and insights into STEM students’ propensity to access mental health support services. Conclusion To the best of our knowledge, the present investigation is the first to establish the psychometric properties of a barriers to counseling tool with STEM students. The results represent an important contribution to the measurement literature, as confirming the internal structure of test scores on an existing measure with a previously untested population is a vital step in demonstrating construct validity. We also found that decreases in STEM students’ reticence to seek counseling was predictive of statistically significant increases in the odds of making a peer referral to the counseling center. In addition, results revealed demographic differences in barriers to counseling among STEM students by gender and help-seeking history. Collectively, our findings suggest that professional counselors who work in college settings can use the RFSV Scale as one way to support STEM college student mental health by identifying why STEM students might be reticent to access counseling services. Supporting STEM students’ mental health has implications for increasing their retention rates, completion rates, and overall psychological well-being. Conflict of Interest and Funding Disclosure The authors reported no conflict of interest or funding contributions for the development of this manuscript. References Al-Maraira, O. A., & Shennaq, S. Z. (2021). Investigation of depression, anxiety and stress levels of health-care students during COVID-19 pandemic. Mental Health Review Journal, 26(2), 113–127. https://doi.org/10.1108/MHRJ-10-2020-0070 Bryan, A. E. B., & Arkowitz, H. (2015). Meta-analysis of the effects of peer-administered psychosocial interventions on symptoms of depression. American Journal of Community Psychology, 55(3–4), 455–471. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-015-9718-y Byrom, N. (2018). An evaluation of a peer support intervention for student mental health. Journal of Mental Health, 27(3), 240–246. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638237.2018.1437605 Caporale-Berkowitz, N. A. (2022). Let’s teach peer support skills to all college students: Here’s how and why. Journal of American College Health, 70(7), 1921–1925. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2020.1841775 Daker, R. J., Gattas, S. U., Sokolowski, H. M., Green, A. E., & Lyons, I. M. (2021). First-year students’ math anxiety predicts STEM avoidance and underperformance throughout university, independently of math ability. NPJ Science of Learning, 6(1), Article 17. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-021-00095-7 Dimitrov, D. M. (2012). Statistical methods for validation of assessment scale data in counseling and related fields. American Counseling Association. Hong, V., Busby, D. R., O’Chel, S., & King, C. A. (2022). University students presenting for psychiatric emergency services: Socio-demographic and clinical factors related to service utilization and suicide risk. Journal of American College Health, 70(3), 773–782. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2020.1764004
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