Psychological and professional predictors of help-seeking attitudes in Vietnamese pre-service teachers

Abstract

Background: Educators are among the most emotionally burdened professionals and face a growing risk of psychological discomfort. Nevertheless, they frequently underutilize accessible mental health care owing to stigma and professional apprehensions. Emotional intelligence, teacher self-efficacy, instructional strategies, and professional pedagogical competency may significantly influence pre-service teachers’ propensity to seek professional psychological support. This study aimed to investigate the predictive relationship between emotional intelligence, self-efficacy, and professional pedagogical competency on pre-service teachers’ attitudes regarding help-seeking in the Vietnamese educational system. Purpose This study investigates how emotional intelligence, teacher self-efficacy, and professional pedagogical competence predict Vietnamese pre-service teachers’ attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help. Methods: A total of 478 students from Vietnamese universities participated in a cross-sectional survey. Validated instruments were employed to evaluate emotional intelligence (The Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test—SSEIT), teacher self-efficacy (The Ohio State Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale—OSTES), professional pedagogical competency (Professional Pedagogical Competence Scale—PPCS), and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help (ATSPPH-SF). Descriptive statistics were used to summarize participant characteristics and variable levels. Pearson correlation analysis examined associations among the study variables, and multiple linear regression was employed to identify the predictive effects of emotional intelligence, teacher self-efficacy, and professional pedagogical competency on attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help. Results: Emotional intelligence showed the strongest positive correlation with help-seeking attitudes (r =.714, p