Evaluating the Effects of Social Capital, Self-Stigma, and Social Identity in Predicting Behavioral Intentions of Agricultural Producers to Seek Mental Health Assistance

Abstract

Mental illness significantly impacts agricultural producers, whose occupation puts them at increased risk for compromised mental health and related disorders. Help-seeking intention, which can be mediated by variables such as social identity, social capital, and self-stigma, can lead to improved mental health outcomes. This cross-sectional study aimed to describe the intention of agricultural producers to seek mental health assistance and determine whether these three variables are associated with help-seeking intention. Researchers administered a cross-sectional survey of agricultural producers from two regions in 32 Texas counties. Researchers surveyed a sample of Texas agricultural producers (n = 429) to understand their social identity, social capital, and degree of self-stigma, and their intent to seek help for personal or emotional problems and for suicide ideation. Researchers identified a relationship between social identity and social capital, which indicated that social identity is moderately associated with greater levels of social capital. The multiple linear regression analyses confirmed that social capital and self-stigma are significant predictors of producers’ help-seeking intention for both help-seeking types. These results signify the importance of efforts to increase social capital, increase mental health literacy and tailor training to address self-stigma and enhance positive help-seeking behavior among agricultural producers.