Help-Seeking and Disclosure in University Students with Suicidal Thoughts and Self-Harm: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Suicide is a serious problem among university students. As suicidal thoughts and self-harm are predictive of completed suicide, students experiencing these problems would benefit from seeking support. This systematic review synthesised research on help-seeking in university students with suicidal thoughts and self-harm, including rates, sources, and associated factors. Searches were conducted in Medline, PsychINFO, and ERIC (inception to 10/11/2023) and grey literature databases PsycEXTRA and BASE (inception to 23/12/2023) for population-based epidemiological or qualitative studies. Findings were narratively synthesised. Twenty-two studies using 16 unique datasets were included. Most studies were US-based. Over half of the students with suicidal thoughts and self-harm did not seek or receive help for their mental health while at university, with lower rates in men and ethnic minority groups. Demographic, social and service-use influencing factors were identified. The low rates of help-seeking identified in this at-risk group highlight the need for research into interventions to improve help-seeking as part of suicide prevention efforts.