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
. 2021 Mar 25:14:1281-1286.
doi: 10.2147/RMHP.S289211. eCollection 2021.

Mental Health Literacy and Help-Seeking Behaviours Among Undergraduate Pharmacy Students in Abha, Saudi Arabia

Mona Almanasef  1
Affiliations

Mental Health Literacy and Help-Seeking Behaviours Among Undergraduate Pharmacy Students in Abha, Saudi Arabia

Mona Almanasef. Risk Manag Healthc Policy. .

Abstract

Background: The serious mental health problems experienced by university students could have a negative impact on their long-term mental, social and physical health as well as their academic achievements. The ability to recognise a condition, and knowledge about mental health issues and sources of help, are among the factors influencing help-seeking behaviour in young individuals. This study was conducted to examine the mental health literacy among undergraduate pharmacy students and to assess whether mental health literacy is linked to a stronger intention to seek help.

Methods: This prospective cross-sectional study used an online self-administered questionnaire. A total of 271 pharmacy students at King Khalid University completed the questionnaire and agreed to participate in the study.

Results: The mental health literacy in the current study (M=112.53) was found to be lower than that reported in international research using the MHLS. Students with no history of mental health issues scored significantly higher in help-seeking behaviours from informal sources (M=23.65, SD=6.88) than those with a previous history (M=19.03, SD=7.58), F (1, 269)=11.76, p=0.001. The study revealed a significant positive correlation between mental health literacy and help-seeking behaviours r(271)=0.26, p<0.01.

Conclusion: This study demonstrates that there is a positive correlation between mental health literacy and help-seeking behaviours. Implementing appropriate interventions could be a key priority in improving the mental health literacy and help-seeking behaviour of students.

Keywords: Saudi Arabia; help-seeking behaviours; mental health literacy; pharmacy students.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The author reports no conflicts of interest in this work.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. O’Connor M, Casey L. The Mental Health Literacy Scale (MHLS): a new scale-based measure of mental health literacy. Psychiatry Res. 2015;229(1–2):511–516. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2015.05.064 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Gorczynski P, Sims-Schouten W, Hill D, Wilson JC. Examining mental health literacy, help seeking behaviours, and mental health outcomes in UK university students. J Ment Health Train Educ Pract. 2017;12(2):111–120. doi:10.1108/JMHTEP-05-2016-0027 - DOI
    1. Eisenberg D, Golberstein E, Hunt JB. Mental health and academic success in college. BE J Econ Anal Policy. 2009;9(1):1–37. doi:10.2202/1935-1682.2191 - DOI
    1. Fischbein R, Bonfine N. Pharmacy and medical students’ mental health symptoms, experiences, attitudes and help-seeking behaviors. Am J Pharm Educ. 2019;83(10):7558. doi:10.5688/ajpe7558 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Smith CL, Shochet IM. The impact of mental health literacy on help-seeking intentions: results of a Pilot Study with First Year Psychology Students. Int J Ment Health Promot. 2011;13(2):14–20. doi:10.1080/14623730.2011.9715652 - DOI

LinkOut - more resources