Relationship between Depressive Symptoms and Stigma with the Need and Willingness to Receive Counseling Services among Public University Students in Sarawak

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the relationship between depressive symptoms and stigma with the need and willingness to seek counselling services. Pearson’s correlation, t-test and ANOVA was applied in this study to obtain the direction and strength of the relationship that exists between the variables. A total of 348 university students aged 18 to 26 years and above were involved in this study which was conducted at a public university in Sarawak. The findings of the study indicate that there is a positive correlation between the variables of depressive symptoms and stigma with readiness and the need to seek counselling. While there is a difference in depressive symptoms reported higher among the group who had sought counselling compared to the group who had never sought counselling. Even so, the group that never sought counselling was reported to have higher differences from stigma and the need and willingness to seek counselling. ANOVA analysis showed that there was no significant difference between the Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) among students in public universities on depressive symptoms. The main implications of this study lead to the improvement of counselling services in universities to improve the existing counselling system and management. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences Vol. 1 2 , No. 1, 2022, E-ISSN: 2222-6990 © 2022 HRMARS 1086 Introduction The past decade has shown the mental health crisis to be the biggest challenge in most universities in the world (Auerbach et al., 2018). Studies show the level of mental health of poor students in colleges and universities has increased as much as to 51% in some countries (Auerbach et al., 2018). More than 90% of counselling centre directors expressed concern about the rise of mental health problems among college and university students such as anxiety disorders, crises requiring an emergency response, psychiatric medication issues, clinical depression, learning difficulties, sexual harassment on campus, self -harm and related cases of abuse sexual in the past (Gallaher, 2015). Current mental health problems at university are also associated with an increased risk of substance abuse, a significant decline in quality of life and suicidal thoughts and behaviours (Mortier et al., 2018; Pedrelli et al., 2016). Most of the studies reported that the problem of mental health issues among universities is increasingly at an alarming level (Blanco et al., 2008; Karam, Kypri & Salamon, 2007; Stallman, 2008). A study of 617 students at a private university in Selangor showed that 65 percent of respondents experienced depressive symptoms as a result of online learning during movement control commands (Ads et al., 2020). In addition, the results of the study showed that low internet coverage has resulted in 65 percent of study respondents experiencing depressive symptoms (Ads et al., 2020). According to Bukhari & Saba (2017), university students are a group of individuals who are going through the age of transition between adolescence and adulthood. They have to face challenges in life such as living away from family, adjusting to strangers and more. At the same time, they can be exposed to various sources of stress. These causes of stress if not handled properly can lead to depression in turn affecting life satisfaction (Bukhari & Saba, 2017). Depression is a frequent mental disorder and can have a negative impact on an individual’s life (APA, 2013), including among university students (Gallagher, 2009). Depression can have a major impact on students’ lives and can affect academic performance (Hysenbegasi et al. (2005), physical health as well as despair (Taliaferro et al., 2009), motivation, self-injury (Bonne & Brausch, 2016), ultimately behaviour and suicide attempts (Vázquez & Blanco, 2006). There are several factors that influence the behaviour of seeking psychological help especially among college students who experience depression while in a critical phase in early adulthood (Wang et. al. 2015). Wang et al. (2015) have suggested that the behaviour of seeking psychological help can be improved by understanding stigma. This will help university or college students to seek help earlier and subsequently, seek immediate treatment in anticipation of more positive treatment outcomes. Stigma in seeking psychological help is often associated with stereotypes such as pernicious mental illness (Tucker et al., 2013). Several studies have documented the trend of mental health problems among university students that are poorly explained and there are still knowledge gaps about the determinants that cause rising rates of mental health problems (Bruffaerts et al., 2018; Ngin et al., 2018). In Malaysia, several studies have been conducted to identify the level of depression among university students. Islam et al. (2019) explained in a study, 29.4 percent of public university students in Kuala Lumpur experienced depressive symptoms. Minhat and Alawad (2019) International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences Vol. 1 2 , No. 1, 2022, E-ISSN: 2222-6990 © 2022 HRMARS 1087 found that 31.1 percent of medical students had symptoms of depression at one of the public universities in Selangor. Self-stigma also hinders early decisions to seek mental health information and counselling (Lannin et al., 2016). According to Nokman (2018), stigma and discrimination related to mental illness have been a major barrier for those living with mental health problems to seek psychological treatment. The Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH) face the same difficulties to approach this group due to this negative stigma (Nokman, 2018). The study conducted by Eisenberg et al (2011) found that university students have a sceptical view of counselling because they prefer to deal with problems alone, question the effectiveness of counselling in problem-solving, believe stress as normal, consider counselling less helpful and worry about the views of others when seeking counselling. About 12 percent of university students admit that they have stigma and feel uncomfortable when discussing personal problems with a counsellor (Czyz, 2013). Reports from the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that many people with mental health problems are most likely not to engage in or seek help from any mental assistance services because of stigma and discrimination (WHO, 2013). However, based on past studies, there is a link between individuals’ perceptions of needing help and use of mental health services, showing that 50 percent of students with mental health problems who feel they need help receive treatment compared to only 11% who don’t feel they have a problem in need help (Eisenberg et al., 2011). Therefore, this study will look at the relationship whether there is relationship between depressive symptoms and stigma with the need and willingness to seek counselling services among university students in Sarawak. In addition, related studies on this topic by taking into account the population of university students in Sarawak allows a comparison of the results of previous studies that mostly take into account the student population in Peninsular Malaysia. In addition, this study will look at the pandemic impact of COVID-19 and movement control orders on students during the course of the study. Research Methodology Pearson’s correlation was applied in this study in order to identify the relationships between the variables. A public university in Sarawak was selected for the COVID-19 pandemic during the Movement Control Order in Malaysia. Non -random sampling is a technique was chosen in this study. It can be achieved through selecting a sample from a population in which each individual in the population does not have the same opportunity or probability in the selection process as the sample. The selected individual may be coincidental or even selected because the individual is believed to be able to provide the required information. As such, not all individuals have the same opportunity to be selected as a sample (Othman, 2013). Researchers have used two methods to determine the sample size by using the formula of Krejcie and Morgan (1970) and power analysis by Cohen (1988) to ensure that two sampling criteria are met namely representation and adequacy (Ary et al., 2006). Through these two methods, the optimal sample required is 348 people where a decision related to the null hypothesis can be made by reducing the risk of committing Type I error and Type II error. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences Vol. 1 2 , No. 1, 2022, E-ISSN: 2222-6990 © 2022 HRMARS 1088 This study uses a set of questionnaires for data collection this questionnaire consists of three parts. Part A consists of personal information, Part B is part of a questionnaire to determine the depressive symptoms using the Center For Epidemiology Study Depression Scale (CESD) which was developed by (Laurie Radloff in 1977). Part C is the Self-stigma of Seeking Help Scale (SSOSHS) ) developed by Vogel et al (2006) while Part D is a questionnaire that measures attitudes toward seeking counselling help, using the Attitudes Towards Seeking Professional Psychological HelpShort Form (ATSPPH-SF) questionnaire produced by (Fischer & Turner, 1995). Findings Respondent Demographic Background Based on Table 10, the respondents involved in the analysis of this study were a total of 348 people, consisting of 114 (32.8%) male respondents and 234 (67.2%) female respondents. The majority of respondents were Malay with a total of 180 (51.7%), followed by 87 (25%) respondents Sarawak Bumiputera ethnic groups, 43 (12.4%) respondents from Bumiputera Sabah. 26 (7.2%) respondents were Chinese and the remaining 13 (3.7%) people were Indians. In addition, a total of 228 (65.5%%) of the respondents involved are Muslims, 97 (27.9%) people are Christians, 13 (3.7%) people are Buddhis