Understanding Australian university students’ mental health help‐seeking: An empirical and theoretical investigation
Objective To investigate correlates of Australian university students’ help‐seeking intentions and actual service usage, testing and extending new models based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the Behavioural Model of Health Services Use. Method 611 Australian domestic students (209 males and...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis Group
2018-03-01
|
| Series: | Australian Journal of Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ajpy.12157 |
| _version_ | 1797681649778950144 |
|---|---|
| author | Wenjing Li Linley A. Denson Diana S. Dorstyn |
| author_facet | Wenjing Li Linley A. Denson Diana S. Dorstyn |
| author_sort | Wenjing Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objective To investigate correlates of Australian university students’ help‐seeking intentions and actual service usage, testing and extending new models based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the Behavioural Model of Health Services Use. Method 611 Australian domestic students (209 males and 402 females, mean age = 21-years; SD = 5.6) completed standardised measures and commented on facilitators, barriers, benefits, and potential improvements to student mental health services. Results A model based on Chinese university student data also fit the Australian data best. Bootstrapping revealed relationships between several predictors (knowledge concerning mental health and services, evaluated and perceived need, anticipated benefits, stigma concerns, and Asian values) and help‐seeking intentions were significantly mediated by attitudes toward help‐seeking and subjective norms. Logistic regression analysis identified predictors of service usage: help‐seeking intentions, perceived behavioural control, gender, study major, knowledge of mental health, social support, income, self‐rated mental health status, perceived need for help, and Asian values. Conclusions Practitioners need to consider psycho‐educational and marketing approaches to engage students, raise awareness of available services, increase understanding of mental illness and treatments, and reduce stigmatized attitudes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T23:47:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-556db778de984128a8153db726a63f52 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0004-9530 1742-9536 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T23:47:54Z |
| publishDate | 2018-03-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Australian Journal of Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-556db778de984128a8153db726a63f522023-09-19T08:54:46ZengTaylor & Francis GroupAustralian Journal of Psychology0004-95301742-95362018-03-01701304010.1111/ajpy.1215712098865Understanding Australian university students’ mental health help‐seeking: An empirical and theoretical investigationWenjing Li0Linley A. Denson1Diana S. Dorstyn2University of AdelaideUniversity of AdelaideUniversity of AdelaideObjective To investigate correlates of Australian university students’ help‐seeking intentions and actual service usage, testing and extending new models based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the Behavioural Model of Health Services Use. Method 611 Australian domestic students (209 males and 402 females, mean age = 21-years; SD = 5.6) completed standardised measures and commented on facilitators, barriers, benefits, and potential improvements to student mental health services. Results A model based on Chinese university student data also fit the Australian data best. Bootstrapping revealed relationships between several predictors (knowledge concerning mental health and services, evaluated and perceived need, anticipated benefits, stigma concerns, and Asian values) and help‐seeking intentions were significantly mediated by attitudes toward help‐seeking and subjective norms. Logistic regression analysis identified predictors of service usage: help‐seeking intentions, perceived behavioural control, gender, study major, knowledge of mental health, social support, income, self‐rated mental health status, perceived need for help, and Asian values. Conclusions Practitioners need to consider psycho‐educational and marketing approaches to engage students, raise awareness of available services, increase understanding of mental illness and treatments, and reduce stigmatized attitudes.http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ajpy.12157behavioural model of health services usehelp‐seeking intentionservice utilisationtertiary educationtheory of planned behaviour |
| spellingShingle | Wenjing Li Linley A. Denson Diana S. Dorstyn Understanding Australian university students’ mental health help‐seeking: An empirical and theoretical investigation Australian Journal of Psychology behavioural model of health services use help‐seeking intention service utilisation tertiary education theory of planned behaviour |
| title | Understanding Australian university students’ mental health help‐seeking: An empirical and theoretical investigation |
| title_full | Understanding Australian university students’ mental health help‐seeking: An empirical and theoretical investigation |
| title_fullStr | Understanding Australian university students’ mental health help‐seeking: An empirical and theoretical investigation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Understanding Australian university students’ mental health help‐seeking: An empirical and theoretical investigation |
| title_short | Understanding Australian university students’ mental health help‐seeking: An empirical and theoretical investigation |
| title_sort | understanding australian university students mental health help seeking an empirical and theoretical investigation |
| topic | behavioural model of health services use help‐seeking intention service utilisation tertiary education theory of planned behaviour |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ajpy.12157 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT wenjingli understandingaustralianuniversitystudentsmentalhealthhelpseekinganempiricalandtheoreticalinvestigation AT linleyadenson understandingaustralianuniversitystudentsmentalhealthhelpseekinganempiricalandtheoreticalinvestigation AT dianasdorstyn understandingaustralianuniversitystudentsmentalhealthhelpseekinganempiricalandtheoreticalinvestigation |