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Articles

CIJP: Vol.4 No. 1, June 2019

Perceived Social Support and Stress as Predictors of Help-Seeking Attitude for Mental Health among Young Adults

  • Leonard C. Orji & Gboyega E. Abikoye
Submitted
August 26, 2019
Published
2019-08-26

Abstract

The study investigated the roles of perceived social support and stress in the help-seeking attitude for mental health of young adults. Respondents (n = 385) were interviewed using the multidimentional scale of perceived social support and the perceived stress scales. Participants’ ages ranged from 18 to 24 years. The hypotheses were tested with the simple and multiple regression models at 5% level of significance. Findings indicated a positive and significant relationship between perceived social support and attitude towards help-seeking for mental health. It was also found that perceived stress has no significant relationship with attitude towards help-seeking for mental health. The discussions of the results centered on the use of denial defense mechanism, cultural provisions, stigma, negative helper’s evaluations and fear of  labeling. It is recommended that help-seeking be incorporated into the educational curriculum with a much friendlier approach in sensitizing the young adults towards help-seeking for ailments that are suggestive of mental disorder. This will help in eradicating the stigma associated with mental health as well as make help-seeking more attractive.