Mental Health Literacy and Help-Seeking Attitudes in Young Women

Page: 473-477
Afreen Zehra1, Shubhda Sharma2, Neera Pant3, and Smita Chatterjee4 (Department of Psychology, University of Delhi, New Delhi,1,2,4 and Department of Psychology, Gargi College, University of Delhi, New Delhi3)

Mental Health Literacy (MHL) constitutes the understanding of mental disorders which can aid in their recognition, mitigation, or prevention. The aim of this research was to understand the effect of a mental health initiative on the MHL of the participants and to examine the correlation between MHL and help-seeking attitudes. A cross-sectional correlational research design was employed on a sample of 80 female undergraduate students from New Delhi who were a part of the mental health initiative. They completed a survey that included the demographic profile, the Mental Health Literacy Questionnaire (MLHq), and the Mental Help Seeking Attitude Scale (MHSAS). Our research findings suggested that the MHL of the sample was satisfactory (M=117.81; SD=8.31) and they had high help-seeking attitudes (M=55.42; SD=7.66). The correlational analysis of the variables indicates that there is a significant and moderately strong positive association between MLHq and MHSAS (r=0.52, p<.001). Mental Health Literacy, thus, is an important predictor of help-seeking attitudes, which foster positive consequences for overall mental health. Thus, interventions aimed at improving Mental Health Literacy should be developed and implemented, especially in educational settings.