The Impact of Mental Health Literacy on Help-Seeking Intentions: Results of a Pilot Study with First Year Psychology Students
Abstract
Although mental health literacy has been proposed as a factor that may facilitate help-seeking, few studies have examined this relation. This pilot study was designed to investigate the relation between mental health literacy and help-seeking intentions, and to explore which components of mental health literacy might be best able to predict help-seeking intentions. An online questionnaire was completed by a convenience sample of 150 university students enrolled in a psychology unit, aged between 17 and 26 years. A simultaneous multiple regression indicated that higher levels of mental health literacy could predict greater intentions to seek help from professional sources. A number of mental health literacy components made a unique and significant contribution to the prediction of help-seeking intentions. The findings of this pilot study indicate that the role of mental health literacy in facilitating help-seeking is a promising area of research.
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Greater literacy and diminished stigma are associated with a positive help-seeking intention.
“This pattern is consistent with previous findings of greater literacy and diminished stigma being associated with a positive help-seeking intention46,47”
From Technology-Based Interventions to Improve Help-Seeking for Mental Health Concerns: A Systematic Review (2022) · cites this paper as [47]
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- Authors
- Smith, C. L., & Shochet, I. M.
- Affiliations
- Queensland University of Technology (AU)
- ORCID
- Shochet, Ian M
- Venue
- International Journal of Mental Health Promotion
- Published
- 2011-01
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 14-20
- ISSN
- 1462-3730 (ISSN-L)
- 2049-8543
- OpenAlex
- W1979208543
- Cited by
- 120
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 4
- FWCI
- 1.74
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- International Journal of Mental Health Promotion (publishedVersion)
- QUT ePrints (Queensland University of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Faculty of Health; Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Literacy and Information Accessibility
- Keywords
- mental health literacy, help-seeking intentions, first-year students, psychology students, mental health promotion
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