Understanding Australian university students’ mental health help-seeking: An empirical and theoretical investigation

Abstract

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.