The Communication and Seeking Information of Mental Health Services among Students in Universitas Airlangga Indonesia
Abstract
Introduction: For teenagers, mental health is a big problem during the COVID-19 pandemic and post pandemic. Only a few teenagers seek professional help for mental health problems. In the last 12 months, only 2.6% of youth with mental health problems used mental health facilities or counseling to deal with their emotional and behavioral problems. The purpose of study is to determine the effect of demographic characteristics, knowledge, attitudes, social support, ability to do self-efficacy, distance to health services and stigma on the intention and behavior of seeking mental health services among students at the Universitas Airlangga Indonesia.
Methods: The research is a cross-sectional study using questionnaires distributed through google form. The participants are 324 Universitas Airlangga students. The data was analyzed by logistic regression to examine the effect of independent variables to dependents variables.
Results: The results showed that the attitude of the respondents, the ability of the respondents in self-control and the intention as well as social support have significant influence on the behavior of students in seeking mental health services.
Conclusion: Campus should provide full support to students in seeking mental health services by providing infrastructure and communication system, both physical and mental, such as counseling services with professionals.
References
Wahdi AE, Setyawan A, Putri YA, Wilopo SA, Erskine HE, Wallis K, McGrath C, Blondell SJ, Whiteford HA, Scott JG, Blum R, Fine S, Li M, Ramaiya M. National Adolescent Mental Health Survey (I-NAMHS) Report. Yogyakarta; 2022 Oct.
Bjørnsen HN, Eilertsen MEB, Ringdal R, Espnes GA, Moksnes UK. Positive mental health literacy: Development and validation of a measure among Norwegian adolescents. BMC Public Health. 2017;17(1):1–10.
Wei Y, McGrath PJ, Hayden J, Kutcher S. Mental health literacy measures evaluating knowledge, attitudes and help-seeking: A scoping review. BMC Psychiatry. 2015;15(1).
Šimúth J, Zelinka J, Polek B. Polynucleotide phosphorylase from Streptomyces aureofaciens: Purification and properties. BBA - Protein Structure. 1975;379(2):397–407.
Picco L, Abdin E, Chong SA, Pang S, Shafie S, Chua BY, Vaingankar J, Ong LP, Tay J, Subramaniam M. Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help: Factor Structure and Socio-Demographic Predictors. Front Psychol. 2016 Apr 25;7.
Pilcher JJ, Bryant SA, Sousa N, Avital A, Jing L. Implications of social support as a self-control resource. Front Behav Neurosci. 2016;10(NOV):1–6.
Chen P, Liu XJ, Wang XQ, Yang BX, Ruan J, Liu Z. Attitude Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Among Community-Dwelling Population in China. Front Psychiatry. 2020;11(May):1–10.
Wodong GMA, Utami MS. The Role of Mental Health Knowledge and Perceived Public Stigma in Predicting Attitudes towards Seeking Formal Psychological Help. Jurnal Psikologi. 2023;50(1):1.
Umubyeyi A, Mogren I, Ntaganira J, Krantz G. Help-seeking behaviours, barriers to care and self-efficacy for seeking mental health care: a population-based study in Rwanda. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2016;51(1):81–92.
Yamauchi T, Suka M, Yanagisawa H. Help-seeking behavior and psychological distress by age in a nationally representative sample of Japanese employees. J Epidemiol. 2020;30(6):237–43.
R Y, Y LW. Mental health knowledge, attitude and help-seeking tendency: a Malaysian context. Singapore Med J. 2009;50(12):1169.
Yeshanew B, Belete A, Necho M. Help-seeking intention and associated factors towards mental illness among residents of Mertule Mariam town, East Gojam Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia: A mixed-method study. Ann Gen Psychiatry. 2020;19(1):1–11.
Chavira DA, Garland A, Yeh M, McCabe K, Hough RL. Child Anxiety Disorders in Public Systems of Care: Comorbidity and Service Utilization. J Behav Health Serv Res. 2009;36(4):492–504.
Talebi M, Matheson K, Anisman H. The stigma of seeking help for mental health issues: mediating roles of support and coping and the moderating role of symptom profile. J Appl Soc Psychol. 2016;46(8):470–82.
Kang W, Steffens F, Pineda S, Widuch K, Malvaso A. Personality traits and dimensions of mental health. Sci Rep. 2023;13(1):1–10.
Park S, Jeon M, Lee Y, Ko YM, Kim CE. Influencing factors of attitudes toward seeking professional help for mental illness among Korean adults. Int J Soc Psychiatry. 2018 May;64(3):286–92.
Weisman CS. Women and their health care providers: A matter of communication. Communication between women and their health care providers: Research findings and unanswered questions. Public Health Reports. 1987;102(4 SUPPL. JULY/AUG.):147–51.
Osman AF, Abdul Mutalib M, Tafran K, Tumin M, Chong CS. Demographic and Socioeconomic Variables Associated With Health Care–Seeking Behavior Among Foreign Workers in Malaysia. Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health. 2020 Jan 1;32(1):42–8.
Simons K, Bradfield O, Spittal MJ, King T. Age and gender patterns in health service utilisation: Age-Period-Cohort modelling of linked health service usage records. BMC Health Serv Res. 2023 May;23(1):480.
Zheng S, Zhao L, Ju N, Hua T, Zhang S, Liao S. Relationship between oral health-related knowledge, attitudes, practice, self-rated oral health and oral health-related quality of life among Chinese college students: a structural equation modeling approach. BMC Oral Health. 2021;21(1):1–11.
Güney E, Aydemir AF, Alkan Ö, Kim RY. Gender differences in psychological help-seeking attitudes : a case in Türkiye. 2024;(March):1–12.
Ajzen I. The theory of planned behavior. Organ Behav Hum Decis Process. 1991;50(2):179–211.
Babu B. Attitude Towards Mental Health Problems and Seeking Professional Help. 2023;(March).
Bandura A. Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ, US: Prentice-Hall, Inc; 1986. p. xiii, 617–xiii, 617. (Prentice-Hall series in social learning theory.).
Suryaningrum C. The Correlation of Self-Construal, Self-Efficacy, and Emotional Regulation Strategy as Cultural Factors with Social Anxiety: Preliminary Study. 2018;133:206–11.
Burke-Garcia A, Johnson-Turbes A, Mitchell EW, Verlenden JMV, Puddy R, Mercado MC, Nelson P, Rabinowitz L, Xia K, Wagstaff L, Feng M, Caicedo L, Tolbert E . How Right Now? Supporting Mental Health and Resilience Amid COVID-19. Traumatology (Tallahass Fla). 2021;27(4):399–412.
Levesque JF, Harris MF, Russell G. Patient-centred access to health care: Conceptualising access at the interface of health systems and populations. Int J Equity Health. 2013;12(1):1.
Le KH, La TXP, Tykkyläinen M. Service quality and accessibility of healthcare facilities: digital healthcare potential in Ho Chi Minh City. BMC Health Serv Res. 2022;22(1):1–13.
Jameel HT, Panatik SA, Nabeel T, Sarwar F, Yaseen M, Jokerst T, Faiz Z. Observed Social Support and Willingness for the Treatment of Patients with Schizophrenia. Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2020;Volume 13:193–201.
Holt CL, Roth DL, Huang J, Clark EM. Role of religious social support in longitudinal relationships between religiosity and health-related outcomes in African Americans. J Behav Med. 2018;41(1):62–73.
Moudatsou M, Stavropoulou A, Philalithis A, Koukouli S. The role of empathy in health and social care professionals. Healthcare (Switzerland). 2020;8(1):7–9.
Garrey SK, Takemoto E, Petrsoric L, Gargano LM. Self-Efficacy and Mental Health Help-Seeking Behavior of World Trade Center Health Registry Enrollees, 2015–2016. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022;19(12).
Bandura A. Self?efficacy. In V S Ramachaudran (Ed), Encyclopedia of human behavior (Vol 4, pp 71-81) New York: Academic Press (Reprinted in H Friedman [Ed], Encyclopedia of mental health San Diego: Academic Press, 1998) I. 1994;
Subu MA, Wati DF, Netrida N, Priscilla V, Dias JM, Abraham MS, Younan SS, Yateem NA, . Types of stigma experienced by patients with mental illness and mental health nurses in Indonesia: a qualitative content analysis. Int J Ment Health Syst. 2021;15(1):1–12.
Stangl AL, Earnshaw VA, Logie CH, Van Brakel W, Simbayi LC, Barré I, Dovidio JF. The Health Stigma and Discrimination Framework: A global, crosscutting framework to inform research, intervention development, and policy on health-related stigmas. BMC Med. 2019;17(1):18–23.
Basrowi RW, Wiguna T, Samah K, Moeloek NDF, Purwanto SA, Ekowati M, Elisabeth A, Rahadian A, Ruru B, Pelangi B. Exploring Mental Health Issues and Priorities in Indonesia Through Qualitative Expert Consensus. 2024;1–9.
Widayanti AW, Green JA, Heydon S, Norris P. Health-seeking behavior of people in Indonesia: A narrative review. J Epidemiol Glob Health. 2020;10(1):6–15.
Bean DJ, Dryland A, Rashid U, Tuck NL. The Determinants and Effects of Chronic Pain Stigma: A Mixed Methods Study and the Development of a Model. Journal of Pain. 2022;23(10):1749–64.
Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Public Health and Pharmacy

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with Journal of Public Health and Pharmacy retain the copyright of their work. The journal applies a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0), which grants the following rights:
-
Copyright Retention: Authors retain the copyright of their work, maintaining full control over their intellectual property without restrictions.
-
Right of First Publication: Authors grant the journal the right of first publication of their work. This ensures that the work is initially published and credited in Journal of Public Health and Pharmacy.
-
License to Share and Reuse: The work is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, allowing others to copy, distribute, remix, and build upon the work for any purpose, even commercially, as long as proper credit is given to the authors, and any new creations are licensed under the same terms.
