Predicting disclosure and help-seeking in university students with psychosocial problems based on stigma and attitudes towards disclosure and help-seeking

Abstract

Despite high prevalence of mental health problems among university students, there's a gap between the need for help and the actual treatment received. This study investigated disclosure on distress and hazardous alcohol use and help-seeking behavior in a sample of 1,791 students of a Dutch university of applied sciences. Students' perceived public and personal stigma, and attitudes towards disclosure and help-seeking were assessed as possible predictors of disclosure and help-seeking behavior. Results of the analysis of variance and logistic regression analysis indicated that perceived public and personal stigma did not predict disclosure and helpseeking behavior, but that attitudes towards disclosure and help-seeking did. Students with both distress and hazardous alcohol use have the least tendency to disclose their problems to family, friends or classmates, but at the same time they do tend to seek help. Disclosure and seeking help for mental health challenges are health promoting competencies that seem to need more attention in university students. Although further research needs to validate these findings, it is recommended to promote disclosure and help-seeking among students by investing in mental health literacy programs, to educate students about mental health issues, raise awareness on available mental health services and their potential benefits.

Suicidal ideation, suicide literacy and stigma, disclosure expectations and attitudes toward help‐seeking among university students: The impact of schizotypal personality traits

“…Likewise, Health et al (Heath et al, 2016) found that disclosure benefits were positively associated with help-seeking attitudes, whereas disclosure risks were associated with more negative attitudes. More recently, Dopmeijer et al (2020) investigated 1791 Dutch students and noted that higher intentions to disclose significantly predicted help-seeking behaviour.…”

ale undergraduate students’ perceptions of male student mental health

“…Data from the academic year 2015/16, revealed that male first year students were less likely to disclose mental illhealth to the university compared to females (1.4% compared to 2.5%) (Thorley, 2017). This is important, as disclosure is related to help-seeking (Romanson, 2018;Dopmeijer et al, 2020). Research has also highlighted that male students are unlikely to disclose mental ill-health to their friends (Corrigan et al, 2016), for reasons such as fear of being cast out of their social group (The Priory Group, 2017).…”

“…Disclosure on UCAS Thorley (2017) reported that male students were less likely to disclose mental illhealth to their university than females. This in turn is related to a reduction in helpseeking (Romanson, 2018;Dopmeijer et al, 2020). Participants were asked if they thought it would be beneficial for someone who had been diagnosed with mental illhealth, to disclose this on their UCAS form when applying to university.…”

“…This is of concern; students should feel safe to disclose, and subsequently receive appropriate support if and when needed. Research has consistently highlighted the need for disclosure in order to gain mental health support (Romanson, 2018;Dopmeijer et al, 2020). Apprehensions raised were predominantly about how the information would be stored and used by the institutions.…”