Helping intentions of undergraduates towards their depressed peers: a cross-sectional study in Sri Lanka

Abstract

BackgroundDespite showing high rates of depression, university students prefer to seek assistance for their depression from informal sources, such as their friends, rather than seeking professional assistance. Therefore, the helping behaviours of those who provide informal help to these students need examination. This study examines the helping intentions of undergraduates in Sri Lanka towards their depressed peers and the correlates of their helping intentions.MethodThe undergraduates were presented with a vignette of a hypothetical depressed undergraduate. A total of 4442 undergraduates responded to an open-ended question about how the person in the vignette should be helped if this person was someone they knew well. Their responses were coded in reference to established mental health first aid guidelines. Logistic and linear regression models were used to examine the predictors of their helping intentions.ResultsThe undergraduates’ most common helping intentions were to listen/talk and support their peer. Only around a third considered the need for professional help. The overall quality of their helping intentions was poor, but better among those who recognised the problem as depression and those who had less stigmatising attitudes. There was some evidence that certain helping intentions of the undergraduates which were person-oriented or social network-related were better among females, those in higher years of study and among certain non-medical student groups. Intentions to encourage professional help were better among those who recognised the problem, but poorer among those with personal experiences of this problem and among those who perceived this problem to be a weakness and not a sickness.ConclusionsAlthough the undergraduates may attempt to support their distressed peers, they may not show appropriate helping actions and may not encourage the use of professional assistance. Hence, they need to be educated on how best to respond to their distressed peers. Those with higher levels of stigma and inability to recognise the problem may be at greater risk of showing poorer helping responses towards their distressed peers.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12888-017-1192-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Mental Health Literacy and Peer‐to‐Peer Counseling Referrals Among Community College Students

“…Specifically, several key results that emerged from the current investigation have implications for augmenting community college counselors’ education and outreach activities. First, in regard to encouraging peer‐to‐peer referrals to the counseling center, it is important that students are adequately in‐serviced on how to recognize warning signs of mental health issues because increased knowledge of warning signs is associated with a greater sense of responsibility to assist peers with their mental health issues (Amarasuriya, Reavley, Rossetto, & Jorm, 2017; Servaty‐Seib et al, 2013; Taub et al, 2013). Given that students are more likely to share their mental health concerns with their peers than with campus authority figures such as administrators, staff, and faculty (Wawrzynski et al, 2011), we suggest that college counselors implement programs to train peer mentors on mental health issues, allowing for increased student‐to‐student conversational transparency.…”

Adolescent Endorsement of the “Weak-Not-Sick” Stereotype for Generalised Anxiety Disorder: Associations with Prejudice, Discrimination, and Help-Giving Intentions toward Peers

“…Mental illness stigma then, is particularly concerning in adolescence both because of the key role that peer acceptance plays in the wellbeing of adolescents in general, and more specifically because peers are often the first port of call for young people experiencing mental health problems, with research consistently showing that adolescents prefer to seek informal help from friends [ 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ]. Comprehensively understanding the nature, expression and maintenance of adolescent stigmatising responses is vital in order to inform the development of effective stigma intervention strategies with a view to improving both treatment-seeking for those with mental illnesses and help-giving responses towards them.…”

“…To date, no studies have examined the content of GAD stigma in detail in adolescents, particularly with regard to the role of the WNS stereotype. There is also a distinct lack of research into the relationship between the WNS stereotype and help-giving responses toward peers with anxiety disorders, which is concerning, given the key role that peer support plays for young people experiencing mental health difficulties [ 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ].…”

Quality of assistance provided by members of the Australian public to a person at risk of suicide: associations with training experiences and sociodemographic factors in a national survey

“…Better quality intentions and actions are defined as those that more closely implement the action plan. The method has been used in a number of previous surveys of the quality of mental health first aid intentions and actions, including studies with Australian adults [13–15], Australian youth [16, 17], British university students [18], Sri Lankan university students [19], and Japanese high school students [20]. These studies have found that quality of intentions and actions tends to be low [13, 14, 17–19].…”

“…The method has been used in a number of previous surveys of the quality of mental health first aid intentions and actions, including studies with Australian adults [13–15], Australian youth [16, 17], British university students [18], Sri Lankan university students [19], and Japanese high school students [20]. These studies have found that quality of intentions and actions tends to be low [13, 14, 17–19]. Better quality intentions have been found to be associated with vignettes depicting a person with depression (versus other mental disorders) [13], correct labelling of the disorder in a vignette [17, 19], female gender [13, 18], having had personal contact with a person with a mental health problem [18], lower stigma [13, 18, 19] and higher mental health literacy [13].…”