Author: Isik, Esra; Kalan, Aleynanur; Arat, Esra Dudu; Bayrakci, Yilmaz.

Annotation: Evidence suggest that college students may face many psychological problems. However, rates of help seeking remains relatively low when compared to the prevalence of mental health problems in university students. Low levels of mental health literacy and increased stigma are important factors to address in order to facilitate help-seeking behaviors. This study aimed at examining whether mental health literacy mediated the relationship between social and self-stigma and psychological help-seeking attitudes among college students in Turkey. In this cross-sectional study, 243 students from different universities in Turkey participated the study. The survey included self-report measures of mental health literacy, social stigma, self-stigma, and psychological help seeking attitudes, and a sociodemographic information form. Results showed that mental health literacy partially mediated the relationship between social and self-stigma and attitudes towards psychological help-seeking. It is concluded that mental health literacy can reduce stigmatization of psychological problems and increase university students' positive attitudes towards seeking professional help for mental health problems. It is important to implement intervention programs to increase the levels of mental health literacy and reduce stigma related to psychological problems in universities. Academic institutions should support student counseling services to be able to realize these interventions.

Keywords: Help-seeking attitudes; mental health literacy; self-stigma; social stigma

Pages in journal: 151 - 166