Mental Health Help-Seeking Behaviours in University Students: Are First-Generation Students Different?

Abstract

First-in-family (FiF) students experience significant barriers to university participation and are less likely to seek mental health help. This can contribute to increased dropouts when compared to non-FiF students. Using a mixed methods approach, we aimed to ascertain sources of mental health support and underlying factors for the preferences favoured by students from UK universities. Answers to the General Help Seeking Questionnaire (GHSQ) and to two open-ended questions were collected online. We found that FiF (n=194) students were more likely to seek help from friends relative to their non-FiF (n=134) peers. Trust was particularly important for FiF students, while for non-FiF students, the perceived benefit of talking to anyone about mental health was more relevant. Attitudes towards mental health discussion were influenced by background. Stigma and perceived burdensomeness negatively affected help-seeking among all students.

Our findings suggest FiF students derive more benefits for their mental health concerns from friendship circles, implicating the importance of social integration programmes at university. Future work would benefit from evaluating mental health help-seeking intentions of students with more specific characteristics (e.g., race, gender), to better understand determinants influencing preferences and help institutions plan more fitting provisions to support students.