Sleep, mental health, and help-seeking

Title of publication

Exploring poor sleep, mental health, and help-seeking intention in university students

Abstract 

Objective: University students experience common mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, and stress along with poor-sleep quality. This study explores the relationships between these concepts and help-seeking intention in a general
Australian university student population. The primary aim was to examine the moderating effects of sleep quality on help-seeking intention for common mental health problems. The secondary aim was to examine sex differences in help-seeking behaviour. Method: University students, between 18 and 55 years of age ( M = 30.18, SD = 11.37, N = 117) of which 98 were female, completed an on-line survey assessing help-seeking intentions, common mental health problems, and sleep quality. Results: High levels of depression, anxiety, and stress were signi fi cantly associated with decreased sleep quality or decreased help-seeking intention. A multiple regression analysis predicted that students were more likely to report intention to seek help if they had lower scores of depression, but higher scores of stress. Help-seeking intention levels were lower for males than females. Poor-sleep quality was not found to be a moderator of help-seeking intention. Conclusion: Although the proposed moderation effect of poor-sleep quality on the relationship between common mental health problems and help-seeking intention was not supported, the study advanced our knowledge of university students ’ low intention to seek help, despite high scores of poor-sleep quality. Implications for on-campus interventions and raising awareness among students about these issues are discussed.

Cite

Zochil, M. L., & Thorsteinsson, E. B. (2018). Exploring poor sleep, mental health, and help-seeking intention in university students. Australian Journal of Psychology, 70, 41-47.  https://doi.org/10.1111/ajpy.12160

Postpartum depression: Stigma and help-seeking

Title of publication

Changes in stigma and help-seeking in relation to postpartum depression: Non-clinical parenting intervention sample

Abstract 

Postpartum depression (PPD) is a prevalent mental illness affecting women, and less commonly, men in the weeks and months after giving birth. Despite the high incidence of PPD in Australia, rates for help-seeking remain low, with stigma and discrimination frequently cited as the most common deterrents to seeking help from a professional source. The present study sought to investigate PPD stigma in a sample of parents and to examine the effects of an intervention on stigma and help-seeking behaviour. A total of 212 parents aged 18–71 years (M = 36.88, 194 females) completed measures of personal and perceived PPD stigma and attitudes towards seeking mental health services and were randomly assigned to one of four groups: an intervention group (video documentary or factsheet related to PPD) or a control group (video documentary or factsheet not related to PPD). Results showed that there were no effects for type of intervention on either personal or perceived PPD stigma scores. No effect was found for help-seeking propensity. Males had higher personal PPD stigma than females and older age was associated with lower personal PPD stigma. Familiarity with PPD was associated with perceived PPD stigma in others but not personal PPD stigma. More work needs to be conducted to develop interventions to reduce PPD stigma in the community.

Cite

Thorsteinsson, E. B., Loi, N. M., & Farr, K. (2018). Changes in stigma and help-seeking in relation to postpartum depression: Non-clinical parenting intervention sample. PeerJ, 6, Article e5893.  https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5893