Public stigma and attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help of undergraduate Psychology students and students of other majors in Hanoi, Vietnam

ABSTRACT

The study aims to compare the differences in stigma and attitudes regarding seeking psychological professional help for mental health issues between undergraduate students who major in Psychology andother majors. Methods: There were 408 participants. All participants are undergraduate students in Hanoi, Vietnam. Results: The results indicated that students who major in Psychology had significantly lower stigma and more positive attitudes towards seeking professional mental health services compared to their counterparts. Majoring in Psychology might inform the students more about the effectiveness ofmental health services, which can lead to a decrease in stigma against seeking treatment. Conclusion: The study’s results highlight the importance of providing appropriate mental health education to undergraduate students to reduce stigma and improve help-seeking attitude.

KEYWORDS:

• Public stigma
• attitudes towards help-seeking
• academic major
• undergraduate students
• mental health utilization

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data and materials that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Ethics approval

The current study was approved by the Ethical Committee of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University (protocol number 2295/CN-XHNV).

Author Note

We have no known conflict of interest to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

This research paper is solely funded by VNU University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi under project number USSH-2023.18.

Notes on contributors

Nguyen Ba Dat

Nguyen Ba Dat, PhD Faculty of Psychology at University of Social Sciences and Humanities at Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

Tran Bao Tran

Tran Bao Tran, B.S., Doctoral student at Health Psychology program at University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, N.C., U.S.A.

Nguyen Thi Mai Anh

Nguyen Thi Mai Anh, Student Master of clinical psychology. Faculty of Psychology, University of Social Sciences and Humanities - Vietnam National University, Hanoi.