Predictors of Attitudes towards Mental Health Help Seeking Behaviors among University Students In Lebanon

Abstract

Attitudes towards help-seeking are defined as one’s inclination to seeking help in times of psychological distress or discomfort and can be positive or negative (Fischer & Turner, 1970). Several factors have been shown in the literature to influence one’s attitude towards seeking professional psychological help, including symptomatology and levels of distress (Nam et al., 2013). However, in a country like Lebanon, where professional help seeking behavior is a relatively newer practice, many socio-cultural factors may play an even larger part in impacting attitudes towards help seeking behavior.

The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between levels of psychological distress, religiosity, perceived stigma (public and personal), cultural self-construals, westernization and gender on attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help. Participants were recruited from universities across Lebanon through online links on social media. A total of 132 students from more than 14 universities across Lebanon completed the battery of questionnaire. Gender, personal stigma and religiosity were significant predictors of attitudes towards help-seeking whereas public stigma, cultural self-construals, levels of distress and westernization were not significant predictors. The interpretations of the findings, the limitations and future directions of the study were discussed.