Carvalho Paula Saraiva, Pombal Nádia, Gama Jorge, Loureiro Manuel
Department of Psychology and Education, University of Beira Interior, 6200-209 Covilhã, Portugal.
Research Center in Sports Sciences, Health Sciences and Human Development (CIDESD), 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal.
Healthcare (Basel). 2024 Dec 11;12(24):2505. doi: 10.3390/healthcare12242505.
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Help-seeking-that is, the attempt to attain external help for mental health, be it from formal or informal sources-can be described as an adaptive coping process. Mental illness stigma is the most frequently identified barrier that prevents students from seeking psychological help. This study analyzed college students' beliefs about mental illness and attitudes toward formal psychological help-seeking.
Two hundred and eighty-two students from the first and third undergraduate years of Psychology, Sociology, Fashion Design, and Sports Science courses participated. The majority of the sample (75.4%) was female, while only 24.6% was male, with a mean age of 20.04 years. The scales used were the Inventory of Beliefs about Mental Illness (IBMI), the Inventory of Attitudes Toward Seeking Mental Health Services (IATSMHS), and a sociodemographic questionnaire.
The results revealed that females, third-year students, and Psychology students had fewer stigmatizing beliefs about mental illness and more positive attitudes towards help-seeking. Moreover, there were statistically significant differences in beliefs and attitudes in relation to psychological support and familiarity with mental illness. We also glimpsed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students' mental health, and observed a change in opinions and attitudes toward mental illness during this period. Correlation analysis showed negative correlations between stigmatizing beliefs and attitudes toward seeking help. Finally, a cluster analysis identified two profiles of individuals that reflected different levels of stigma and help-seeking attitudes.
This study delineated two distinct groups of students, which is relevant as it allows us to trace profiles to outline more uniform intervention groups and, in turn, implement new and improved interventions that are better adapted to the specific needs of college students.
背景/目的：寻求帮助——即试图从正式或非正式渠道获得心理健康方面的外部帮助——可被描述为一种适应性应对过程。精神疾病污名是最常被提及的阻碍学生寻求心理帮助的因素。本研究分析了大学生对精神疾病的看法以及对寻求正式心理帮助的态度。
来自心理学、社会学、时装设计和体育科学专业本科一、三年级的282名学生参与了研究。样本中大多数（75.4%）为女性，男性仅占24.6%，平均年龄为20.04岁。所使用的量表包括精神疾病信念量表（IBMI）、寻求心理健康服务态度量表（IATSMHS）以及一份社会人口学问卷。
结果显示，女性、三年级学生以及心理学专业学生对精神疾病的污名化信念较少，对寻求帮助的态度更为积极。此外，在心理支持信念和态度以及对精神疾病的熟悉程度方面存在统计学上的显著差异。我们还瞥见了新冠疫情对学生心理健康的影响，并观察到在此期间对精神疾病的看法和态度发生了变化。相关性分析表明，污名化信念与寻求帮助的态度之间存在负相关。最后，聚类分析确定了两类个体特征，反映了不同程度的污名和寻求帮助的态度。
本研究划分出了两类不同的学生群体，这很有意义，因为它使我们能够勾勒出特征，以概述更统一的干预群体，进而实施更适合大学生特定需求的新的和改进的干预措施。
