The current situation and influencing factors of online psychological help seeking behavior among college students in Guangxi / 中国学校卫生

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To understand the current situation and influencing factors of online psychological help seeking behavior among college students in Guangxi, China, so as to provide a scientific basis for improving the mental health of college students.@*Methods@#From March to June 2022, a convenient sampling method was employed to select 2 239 university students from eight universities in Guangxi. The survey included the College Student Online Psychological Help Behavior Questionnaire, General Help Seeking Questionnaire (GHSQ), Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale short Form (ATSPPH-SF), and the 10 item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (Kessler10) to statistically analyze online psychological help seeking behavior and associated influencing factors.@*Results@#The score of online psychological help seeking behavior among college students was ( 13.96± 5.20), and the scores of the three dimensions were as follows: online psychological self-help behavior (7.13± 2.95 ), online non-professional psychological help seeking behavior (4.28±2.19), online professional psychological help seeking behavior (2.54± 1.29 ). The factors influencing online psychological help seeking behavior were ranked as follows: mental health ( β = 0.32), CHSQ ( β =0.21), gender ( β =-0.09), ATSPPH-SF ( β =0.09) and registered residence ( β =0.08) ( P <0.05).@*Conclusion@#The online psychological help seeking behavior of college students in Guangxi is influenced by factors such as mental health. Seeking psychological help online has become a new form of support aimed at meeting the psychological health needs of college students, and constitutes an important supplement to offline psychological assistance. While there are similarities and differences between both modes, universities should pay attention to them.