Memorable Messages About Mental Health Among International Students in the United States: A Mixed-Method Study

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the memorable messages about mental health that international students (N = 199) received from various sources since arriving on campus in the U.S. Utilizing the memorable messages framework, we examined the types of messages (normalizing, strategizing, minimizing) they received and their association with message satisfaction, mental health stigma, and attitude toward help-seeking. The most frequently recalled messages were normalizing messages (49.2%), followed by strategizing messages (31.7%), and minimizing messages (9.5%). Participants who recalled normalizing and strategizing messages reported higher satisfaction and a more favorable attitude toward help-seeking compared to those who recalled minimizing messages. These findings offer theoretical implications for memorable messages and immigrant populations, as well as practical implications for campaign messaging and design. These results can guide university officials in tailoring their efforts to meet the mental health needs of this vulnerable population.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Percentages may not add up to 100% as participants could select one or more categories for gender and race/ethnicity.

2. The way this question was worded “What is your home country?” may have been confusing for some participants, as a requirement for participation in the study was that participants were currently residing in the United States. All participants self-identified as international students. All analyses were conducted with and without participants who identified their home country as the United States (n = 39). There were no notable differences for RQ1 and RQ2 dependent on whether these participants were included or excluded.

3. Participants were asked an open-ended question “Which race/ethnicity do you identify with?” Open-ended responses were categorized by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.