Date of Award

Fall 12-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Psychology

Program/Concentration

Health Psychology

Committee Director

Michelle L. Kelley

Committee Member

Tony Perez

Committee Member

Ivan K. Ash

Abstract

Relative to younger ages, mental health problems are more prevalent among college students (Pedrelli et al., 2015) and nearly 20% of U.S college students are diagnosed each year with a mental health problem (Blanco et al., 2008). College students’ self-efficacy may influence mental health outcomes by impacting an individual’s decision to change their behavior and execute a course of action (Bresó et al., 2011). Mental health may also be influenced by the degree of willingness that an individual possesses, such that those who are more willing to seek mental health treatment are also more likely to follow through and seek help (Segal et al., 2005). Participants in the present study were first-year freshman college students who completed an online survey. Specifically, it was predicted that mental health symptoms would be negatively associated with mental health self-efficacy, and that higher mental health self-efficacy would be associated with greater willingness to engage in mental health services. Additionally, it was hypothesized that mental health self-efficacy would mediate the relationship between mental health problems and willingness to engage in mental health services. Mental health symptoms were negatively associated with mental health self-efficacy; however, mental health self-efficacy was not significantly associated with willingness to engage in mental health services. Lastly, mental health self-efficacy did not significantly mediate the relationship between mental health symptoms and willingness to engage in mental health services. Results from this study highlight the importance of increasing access to mental health prevention and intervention programs to assist college students with mental health problems who may be hesitant to seek services.

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DOI

10.25777/vg3q-0n31

ISBN

9798762197342

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