The relationship between mental health literacy and psychological help-seeking attitudes of nursing undergraduate students: A cross-sectional descriptive study

INTRODUCTION: To determine the relationship between mental health literacy (MHL) levels and psychological help-seeking attitudes levels among nursing students.
METHODS: This cross-sectional and descriptive study was conducted with 306 nursing students. Data were collected using a Personal Information Form, the MHL Scale, and the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale-Short Form (ATSPPHS-SF). Data were collected online through Google Forms. In the study, descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, and linear regression analysis were used.
RESULTS: Mean total scores on the MHL Scale and ATSPPHS-SF were 12.44±3.22 and 9.29±2.69, respectively. There was a positive and significant correlation between the score of resource-oriented MHL and ATSPPHS-SF (r=0.180, p<0.05). The resource-oriented MHL explained 3.2% (R2=0.032) of the increase in attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help and increased attitude toward seeking professional psychological help by 40% (β=0.400) (p<0.05).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The MHL and attitudes toward seeking psychological help of nursing students participating in the study were at a low level. As the resource-oriented MHL of the nursing student increased, their attitudes toward seeking psychological help levels increased, as well. For this reason, it can be recommended to give importance to training on preventive mental health services in the pre-graduate period to increase MHL levels and develop a positive psychological help-seeking attitude.