MENTAL HEALTH LITERACY, SELF-STIGMA AND HEALTH SEEKING BEHAVIOUR AMONG UNDERGRADUATE MEDICAL STUDENTS IN UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA
Date
2024-09-12
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ORCID
0000-0001-9997-3379
Type
Thesis
Degree Level
Masters
Abstract
Background: Canadian medical students have been previously found to be subjected to a high-pressure environment – with long clinical weeks and significant stressors – resulting in high levels of burnout. The reluctance of young adults to seek mental health treatment has been attributed to poor mental health literacy, stigma, preference for self-reliance and concerns about confidentiality. When a medical student does not seek help, mental health issues that might have been avoided earlier could become worsened and might eventually lead to premature withdrawal from medical school as well as other negative consequences.
Purpose: To evaluate mental health literacy, self-stigma, and help-seeking behaviour among undergraduate medical students at the College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan (U of S).
Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study that was conducted within the undergraduate medical education (UGME) program, College of Medicine, U of S. It reports the objective measures of students’ mental health literacy level and health-seeking behaviour of a sample of medical students (year1-year 4) who consented to participate in the study, using standardized questionnaires sent them online. Demographic information of the students was supplemented by the following scales: Mental Health Literacy Scale (MHLS), the Self Stigma of Seeking Psychological Help Scale (SSOSPH) and General Help-Seeking Questionnaire (GHSQ).
Results & Conclusion: Out of 404 students in the entire college, a total of 102 participants responded to the survey questionnaires, but only 85 attempted and completed the survey questionnaires, thus giving a response rate of 25.2%. Almost all the participants reported high mental health literacy, with only 1.2% reporting low level of mental health literacy. The majority (88.2%) had low levels of self-stigma. There is an almost equal distribution among the participants in terms of health seeking behaviour, with 51.8% reporting high help seeking behaviour and 48.2% having low help seeking behaviour. Individuals with lower self-stigma towards seeking help are significantly more likely to engage in high HSB compared to those with high self-stigma, who predominantly fell into the low HSB category (90.0% low HSB vs. 10.0% high HSB).
In conclusion, this research emphasizes the crucial importance of reducing self-stigmatization among medical students, thorough curriculum revisions and supportive educational efforts as well as identifying other barriers to help seeking behaviour.
Description
Keywords
Mental health literacy, Health-seeking behaviour, Self-stigma, undergraduate medical students
Citation
Degree
Master of Science (M.Sc.)
Department
Community Health and Epidemiology
Program
Community and Population Health Science