Mental Health Literacy, Help-Seeking Behaviour and Wellbeing in Young People: Implications for Practice

Abstract

Research indicates that individuals who have high levels of mental health literacy engage in help-seeking for mental health issues more in comparison to those with low mental health literacy. It is therefore important to ensure that young people are able to identify signs of psychological distress and identify appropriate supports and resources when necessary. Preliminary research has identified gender differences in help-seeking and identification of mental health problems. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between mental health literacy, help-seeking intentions and wellbeing in senior high school students. The sample consisted of 22 females and 10 male students, ranging from 16–18 years. Findings indicated a positive correlation between wellbeing and general help-seeking, as well as wellbeing and help-seeking for suicidal ideation. Gender differences were identified for aspects of mental health literacy and help-seeking intentions. Results of this research have implications for practitioners in fostering positive outcomes and developing targeted interventions towards improving mental health literacy and help-seeking behaviour in the future.

Keywords::

• mental health literacy
• help-seeking
• wellbeing
• gender

Author ORCIDs

Chelsea Hyde 0000-0002-6805-7092

Financial support

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Conflicts of interest

One of the authors is a paid employee in the school where data was collected. To manage any potential conflict of interest this author was not involved in data collection or input.

Ethical standards

The authors assert that all procedures contributing to this work comply with the ethical standards of the relevant national and institutional committees on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008.