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Help-seeking intention among Chinese college students exposed to a natural disaster: an application of an extended theory of planned behavior (E-TPB)

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Abstract

Purpose

Professional mental health help-seeking is generally low among Chinese populations with mental problems, and this may also the case following natural disasters. The help-seeking intention within Chinese populations exposed to natural disaster remain unclear. This study aims to explore the intention to seek professional mental health help utilizing an extended theory of planned behavior (E-TPB) model among Chinese college students exposed to Typhoon Hato.

Methods

In total, 1876 Chinese participants were recruited using convenience sampling at baseline and 817 participants (mean age = 20.9 years, SD = 2.8, 28.4% male) were followed up 6 months later. The online questionnaire was applied to measure six constructs including help-seeking intention, attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, self-stigma, and social stigma.

Results

Structural equation modeling showed the subjective norm (β = 0.374, p < 0.001) was the strongest predictor of help-seeking intention, followed by attitude (β = 0.271, p < 0.001) and perceived behavioral control (β = 0.213, p < 0.001), and self-stigma (β = − 0.117, p = 0.006). Unexpectedly, public stigma was not significantly associated with help-seeking intention. Moreover, multi-group analyses revealed paths of the E-TPB model were invariant across gender.

Conclusion

These results supported the efficacy of the E-TPB model in explaining help-seeking intention and emphasized the importance of subjective norm (e.g., support or disproval from significant others or society) in influencing help-seeking intention among Chinese young adults exposed to a natural disaster.

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Funding

This work was supported by a grant from the Macao (SAR) Government and the University of Macau RSKTO (MYRG2015-00109).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Disaster Management and Reconstruction (IDMR), Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China

    Wei Shi

  2. Global and Community Mental Health Research Group, New York University (Shanghai), 1555 Century Ave., Pudong, Shanghai, 200122, People’s Republic of China

    Wei Shi & Brian J. Hall

Authors
  1. Wei Shi
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  2. Brian J. Hall
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Contributions

All authors have contributed to the study conceptualization, design, and development. Material preparation, data collection, curation, management, and analysis were conducted by all authors. The original draft of the manuscript was written by SW. BJH has contributed resources and supervision of the whole survey. BJH commented on and revised the previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Brian J. Hall.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Shi, W., Hall, B.J. Help-seeking intention among Chinese college students exposed to a natural disaster: an application of an extended theory of planned behavior (E-TPB). Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 56, 1273–1282 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-020-01993-8

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