ArticleBMC psychiatry2017
Helping intentions of undergraduates towards their depressed peers: a cross-sectional study in Sri Lanka.
Article in BMC psychiatry, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Supportive actions towards people with mental health problems in the community: A national survey of Australian adults.The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry · 2026Article
- Depression Literacy and Self-Reported Help-Giving Behaviour in Adolescents in Ireland.Child psychiatry and human development · 2026Article
- Decoding Prejudice: Understanding Patterns of Adolescent Mental Health Stigma.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- A study in University of Ruhuna for investigating prevalence, risk factors and remedies for psychiatric illnesses among students.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Under the Surface: The Role of Covert Cues in Peer Suicide Risk Referrals.School mental health · 2022Article
- The influence of religious/spiritual beliefs on Malaysian hospital healthcare workers' attitudes towards suicide and suicidal patients: a qualitative study.Journal of research in nursing : JRN · 2021Article
- Cultural adaptation of mental health first aid guidelines for depression for Sri Lanka: a Delphi expert consensus study.BMC psychiatry · 2021Article
- Prevalence of fibromyalgia in medical students and its association with lifestyle factors - a cross-sectional study.Reumatologia · 2021Article
- Adolescent Endorsement of the "Weak-Not-Sick" Stereotype for Generalised Anxiety Disorder: Associations with Prejudice, Discrimination, and Help-Giving Intentions toward Peers.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- Quality of assistance provided by members of the Australian public to a person at risk of suicide: associations with training experiences and sociodemographic factors in a national survey.BMC psychiatry · 2019Article
- Guidelines for the public on how to provide mental health first aid: narrative review.BJPsych open · 2018Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDespite showing high rates of depression, university students prefer to seek assistance for their depression from informal sources, such as their friends, rather than seeking professional assistance. Therefore, the helping behaviours of those who provide informal help to these students need examination. This study examines the helping intentions of undergraduates in Sri Lanka towards their depressed peers and the correlates of their helping intentions.
methodThe undergraduates were presented with a vignette of a hypothetical depressed undergraduate. A total of 4442 undergraduates responded to an open-ended question about how the person in the vignette should be helped if this person was someone they knew well. Their responses were coded in reference to established mental health first aid guidelines. Logistic and linear regression models were used to examine the predictors of their helping intentions.
resultsThe undergraduates' most common helping intentions were to listen/talk and support their peer. Only around a third considered the need for professional help. The overall quality of their helping intentions was poor, but better among those who recognised the problem as depression and those who had less stigmatising attitudes. There was some evidence that certain helping intentions of the undergraduates which were person-oriented or social network-related were better among females, those in higher years of study and among certain non-medical student groups. Intentions to encourage professional help were better among those who recognised the problem, but poorer among those with personal experiences of this problem and among those who perceived this problem to be a weakness and not a sickness.
conclusionsAlthough the undergraduates may attempt to support their distressed peers, they may not show appropriate helping actions and may not encourage the use of professional assistance. Hence, they need to be educated on how best to respond to their distressed peers. Those with higher levels of stigma and inability to recognise the problem may be at greater risk of showing poorer helping responses towards their distressed peers.
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