Making the grade: a pilot investigation of an e-intervention to increase mental health literacy and help-seeking intentions among international university students

ABSTRACT

International students may have less understanding and awareness of mental health issues and appear unlikely to seek help. The purpose of the current study was to construct and evaluate a brief online educational intervention designed to increase mental health literacy (MHL) and help-seeking among international tertiary students studying in Australia. The intervention was tested among 45 international tertiary students (undergraduate and postgraduate), who were randomly allocated to control and intervention conditions. The intervention led to significant improvements in help-seeking attitudes, particularly in stigmatising attitudes. No significant effects were found for MHL or help-seeking intentions. A brief educational intervention can improve help-seeking attitudes among international tertiary students. Future research may focus on establishing optimal intervention dosage.

KEYWORDS:

• Tertiary education
• university students
• mental health literacy
• help-seeking
• mental health

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr. Bonnie Clough is a clinical psychologist and researcher based at Griffith University, Australia. Bonnie is interested in issues of help-seeking and engagement with mental health services, and in particular, how to support and improve behaviours in these areas.

Sonia Nazareth is a psychologist with experience working and researching among youth and young adult populations. She is interested in issues of mental health and help-seeking, particularly among ethnically diverse populations.

Dr. Leanne Casey is a clinical psychologist and researcher based at Griffith University, Australia. She has over 30 years’ of experience in mental health settings, and her research focuses on understanding barriers to treatment, help seeking and improving dissemination of psychological treatments to address unmet mental health needs