The relationship of perceived campus culture to mental health help-seeking intentions.

Despite mental health issues being widespread on college campuses, the majority of college students do not seek help. Prior research suggests several individual factors that may be related to mental health help-seeking including age, gender, and prior treatment experience. However, there has been little work considering the broader role of the college environment on person-level predictors of mental health help-seeking, specifically the relationship with perceived campus culture. Thus, informed by the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991), the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between perceived campus cultural perspectives on different personal processes, such as attitudes toward treatment, stigma, and treatment barriers that are believed to relate to mental health help-seeking intentions. Participants were 212 undergraduate students from a large university in the southeastern United States. As hypothesized, we found a significant mediation relationship for personal attitudes in the relationship between perceived campus attitudes and help-seeking intentions. In contrast, analyses did not support mediation relationships for personal barriers or personal stigma. These findings suggest that perceived campus culture may serve an important role in personal mental health treatment beliefs. Campus mental health policies and prevention programming may consider targeting perceived campus culture as an important means for increasing personal positive beliefs toward mental health treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record

A Silenced Population.

BACKGROUND: Given challenges that exceed the normal developmental requirements of adolescence, deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) youth are believed to be at elevated risk for engaging in suicide-related behavior (SRB). Unfortunately, little is known about the mechanisms that put these youth potentially at risk. AIMS: To determine whether peer relationship difficulties are related to increased risk of SRB in DHH youth. METHOD: Student records (n = 74) were retrieved from an accredited educational center for deaf and blind students in the United States. RESULTS: Peer relationship difficulties were found to be significantly associated with engagement in SRB but not when accounting for depressive symptomatology. LIMITATIONS: The restricted sample limits generalizability. Conclusions regarding risk causation cannot be made due to the cross-sectional nature of the study. CONCLUSION: These results suggest the need for future research that examines the mechanisms of the relationship between peer relationship difficulties, depression, and suicide risk in DHH youth and potential preventive interventions to ameliorate the risks for these at-risk youth.

Online Suicide Risk Assessment and Management Training.

BACKGROUND: Many mental health professionals (MHPs) encounter youth at risk for suicide but lack knowledge and confidence to assist these individuals. Unfortunately, training for MHPs on suicide risk assessment and management is often not adequately accessible. AIMS: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether MHPs' knowledge, attitudes, perceived social norms, and perceived behavioral control in working with at-risk suicidal youth improve following an online training (QPRT: Question, Persuade, Refer, Treat). METHOD: QPRT was provided to 225 MHPs from three large urban areas in the United States. Suicide prevention literacy, attitudes, perceived social norms, and perceived behavioral control in assessing and managing suicide risk were assessed before and after training. Data were also collected on training engagement and completion. RESULTS: Suicide prevention literacy in most competency domains and perceived behavioral control increased significantly after participation in QPRT. Suicide prevention attitudes and some knowledge domains did not significantly improve. MHPs reported high satisfaction with the training. CONCLUSION: The current study provides initial support for offering MHPs online suicide risk assessment and management training. Online training programs may be an engaging and feasible means for providing advanced suicide prevention skills to MHPs who may have numerous barriers to accessing face-to-face training.