Citation

Calloway SJ, Kelly P, Ward-Smith P. J. Rural Ment. Health 2012; 36(1): 3-10.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, National Association for Rural Mental Health, Publisher American Psychological Association)

DOI

10.1037/h0094774

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Suicide is the third leading cause of death among youth ages 15-24 years and the second leading cause of death among college students (Centers for Disease Control, 2011). Reports from the National College Health Assessment (ACHA) indicate that 45.6% of college students felt hopeless, 85.2% felt overwhelmed, 60.7% felt very sad, and 6.2% reported seriously considering suicide during the previous 12 months (American College Health Association, 2010). Despite the high percentage of students who described feeling hopeless, overwhelmed, and sad, only 6.8% reported seeking help for this psychological distress (American College Health Association, 2010). An important key to reducing suicides is the ability to attend to the barriers that prevent students from seeking help (Rickwood, Deane, Wilson & Ciarrochi, 2005; Suicide Prevention Resource Center, 2010). One important component of successful suicide prevention programs in university settings is to increase help-seeking behaviors for students experiencing high levels of stress or mental health problems (Silverman & Litts, 2010). The Healthy Adolescent Psychosocial Development Working Group has supported the need for examining this health disparity and calls for research to examine adolescents in transition in diverse settings as well as interrelationships among settings and individuals (Halpern-Felsher, Millstein & Irwin, 2002). The goal of this exploratory study was to identify the perceived barriers to help-seeking for psychological distress among students attending a small, rural university and to identify stressors that may be unique to this population.

Language: en