Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Jan 1;2(1):1009-1022.
doi: 10.1080/21642850.2014.963586. Epub 2014 Oct 24.

Students' benefits and barriers to mental health help-seeking

Rebecca A Vidourek  1 , Keith A King  1 , Laura A Nabors  2 , Ashley L Merianos  1
Affiliations

Students' benefits and barriers to mental health help-seeking

Rebecca A Vidourek et al. Health Psychol Behav Med. .

Abstract

Stigma is recognized as a potential barrier to seeking help for a mental health disorder. The present study assessed college students' perceived benefits and barriers to obtaining mental health treatment and stigma-related attitudes via a four-page survey. A total of 682 students at one Midwestern university participated in the study. Findings indicated that females perceived a greater number of benefits to having participated in mental health services and held significantly lower stigma-related attitudes than did males. Students who had ever received mental health services reported significantly more barriers to treatment than did students who had never received services. Health professionals should target students with educational programs about positive outcomes related to receiving mental health services and work with treatment centers to reduce barriers for receiving services.

Keywords: barriers; benefits; college student; mental health; stigma.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Addis M. E., Mahalik J. R. Men, masculinity, and the contexts of help seeking. American Psychologist. 2003:5–14. - PubMed
    1. American College Health Association . American college health association-national college health assessment II: Reference group executive summary fall, 2009. Linthicum, MD: Author; 2009.
    1. Ang R. P., Lim K. M., Tan A. G., Yau T. Y. Effects of gender and sex role orientation on help-seeking attitudes. Current Psychology. 2004;(3):203–214.
    1. Anglin D. M., Alberti P. M., Link B. G., Phelan J. C. Racial differences in beliefs about the effectiveness and necessity of mental health treatment. American Journal of Community Psychology. 2008:17–24. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Antonak R. F., Livneh H. Measurement of attitudes towards persons with disabilities. Disability and Rehabilitation. 2000:211–224. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources