Abstract
Background: Between 9.5% and 31.3% of college students suffer from depression (American college health association national college health assessment II: reference group executive summary spring 2013. Amer. Coll. Health Assoc. 2013; Eagan K, Stolzenberg EB, Ramirez JJ, Aragon, MC, Suchard, RS, Hurtado S. The American freshman: national norms fall 2014. Higher Educ. Res. Inst.; 2015). Universities need to understand the factors that relate to care-seeking behavior. Objective: Across 3 studies, to relate attitudes, social norms, and perceived behavioral control to intention to seek mental health services, and to investigate barriers to care-seeking. Participants: University college students (N = 845, 64% female, 26% male, and 10% unspecified). Methods: New measures were created in Studies 1 and 2, and were examined using structural equation modeling in Study 3. Results: Partially consistent with the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, I, Fishbein, M. Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behavior. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall; 1980), a model with an excellent fit revealed that more positive attitudes about care and higher perceived behavioral control directly predicted higher intention to seek mental health services. Conclusions: Educating college students about mental health disorders and treatments, enhancing knowledge about available services, and addressing limited access to long-term care might improve treatment rates for students suffering from depression.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-10 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Journal of American College Health |
| DOIs | |
| State | Accepted/In press - Aug 4 2016 |
Fingerprint
Keywords
- College students
- community health
- counseling
- mental health
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Cite this
The Theory of Planned Behavior as it predicts potential intention to seek mental health services for depression among college students. / Bohon, Lisa M.; Cotter, Kelly A.; Kravitz, Richard L; Cello, Philip C.; Fernandez y Garcia, Erik.
In: Journal of American College Health, 04.08.2016, p. 1-10.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - The Theory of Planned Behavior as it predicts potential intention to seek mental health services for depression among college students
AU - Bohon, Lisa M.
AU - Cotter, Kelly A.
AU - Kravitz, Richard L
AU - Cello, Philip C.
AU - Fernandez y Garcia, Erik
PY - 2016/8/4
Y1 - 2016/8/4
N2 - Background: Between 9.5% and 31.3% of college students suffer from depression (American college health association national college health assessment II: reference group executive summary spring 2013. Amer. Coll. Health Assoc. 2013; Eagan K, Stolzenberg EB, Ramirez JJ, Aragon, MC, Suchard, RS, Hurtado S. The American freshman: national norms fall 2014. Higher Educ. Res. Inst.; 2015). Universities need to understand the factors that relate to care-seeking behavior. Objective: Across 3 studies, to relate attitudes, social norms, and perceived behavioral control to intention to seek mental health services, and to investigate barriers to care-seeking. Participants: University college students (N = 845, 64% female, 26% male, and 10% unspecified). Methods: New measures were created in Studies 1 and 2, and were examined using structural equation modeling in Study 3. Results: Partially consistent with the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, I, Fishbein, M. Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behavior. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall; 1980), a model with an excellent fit revealed that more positive attitudes about care and higher perceived behavioral control directly predicted higher intention to seek mental health services. Conclusions: Educating college students about mental health disorders and treatments, enhancing knowledge about available services, and addressing limited access to long-term care might improve treatment rates for students suffering from depression.
AB - Background: Between 9.5% and 31.3% of college students suffer from depression (American college health association national college health assessment II: reference group executive summary spring 2013. Amer. Coll. Health Assoc. 2013; Eagan K, Stolzenberg EB, Ramirez JJ, Aragon, MC, Suchard, RS, Hurtado S. The American freshman: national norms fall 2014. Higher Educ. Res. Inst.; 2015). Universities need to understand the factors that relate to care-seeking behavior. Objective: Across 3 studies, to relate attitudes, social norms, and perceived behavioral control to intention to seek mental health services, and to investigate barriers to care-seeking. Participants: University college students (N = 845, 64% female, 26% male, and 10% unspecified). Methods: New measures were created in Studies 1 and 2, and were examined using structural equation modeling in Study 3. Results: Partially consistent with the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, I, Fishbein, M. Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behavior. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall; 1980), a model with an excellent fit revealed that more positive attitudes about care and higher perceived behavioral control directly predicted higher intention to seek mental health services. Conclusions: Educating college students about mental health disorders and treatments, enhancing knowledge about available services, and addressing limited access to long-term care might improve treatment rates for students suffering from depression.
KW - College students
KW - community health
KW - counseling
KW - mental health
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84982856552&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84982856552&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/07448481.2016.1207646
DO - 10.1080/07448481.2016.1207646
M3 - Article
SP - 1
EP - 10
JO - Journal of American College Health
JF - Journal of American College Health
SN - 0744-8481
ER -