Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40077833›Full record

SynthesisJournal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines2025

Research Review: Help-seeking intentions, behaviors, and barriers in college students - a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Ruiying Zhao, Yagmur Amanvermez, Julia Pei, Franchesca Castro-Ramirez, Charlene Rapsey, Claudia Garcia, David D Ebert, Josep Maria Haro, Liviu A Fodor, Oana A David and 6 more

Abstract readSystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
23citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

23 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

16 authors.

Ruiying ZhaoDepartment of Clinical, Neuro and Developmental Psychology, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-4342-6584
Yagmur AmanvermezDepartment of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands.
Julia PeiDepartment of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Franchesca Castro-RamirezDepartment of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Charlene RapseyDepartment of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Claudia GarciaDepartment of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
David D EbertDepartment of Sports and Health Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
Josep Maria HaroResearch and Development Unit, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, CIBERSAM, ISCIII, Barcelona, Spain.
Liviu A FodorDATA Lab, International Institute for Advanced Studies of Psychotherapy and Applied Mental Health, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Oana A DavidDATA Lab, International Institute for Advanced Studies of Psychotherapy and Applied Mental Health, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Osiris RankinDepartment of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Sook Ning ChuaRelate Mental Health Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Vania MartínezCEMERA, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, and Millennium Nucleus to Improve the Mental Health of Adolescents and Youths (Imhay), Santiago, Chile.
Ronny BruffaertsCenter for Public Health Psychiatry, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Ronald C KesslerDepartment of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Pim CuijpersDepartment of Clinical, Neuro and Developmental Psychology, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Funding

Training Program in Comparative Effectiveness Research for Suicide PreventionT32MH125815 · NIMH · HARVARD UNIVERSITY D/B/A HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH · PI MIGUEL HERNAN, MATTHEW K NOCK · 2022 to 2026
$1.2M
ANID - Fondecyt N° 1221230ANID - Millennium Science Initiative Program NCS2021_081Chinese Scholarship Council Grant 202007720039NIMH NIH HHS T32 MH125815
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe prevalence of mental health problems among college students has increased over the past decade. Even when mental health services are available, many students still struggle to access these services. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to identify the rates at which students actively seek or consider using formal help and to determine the main reasons for not seeking help.

methodsA comprehensive literature search was conducted on PubMed, PsycINFO, and Embase to identify studies on help-seeking behaviors, intentions, and barriers to help-seeking among college students with mental health problems. Random effect models were used to calculate the pooled proportions.

resultsOf the 8,919 identified studies, 62 met the inclusion criteria and were included (n = 53 on help-seeking behaviors, n = 21 on help-seeking intentions, and n = 14 on treatment barriers). The pooled prevalence of active help-seeking behaviors was 28% (179,915/435,768 individuals; 95% CI: 23%-33%, I

conclusionsThe findings highlight the gap between the mental health needs of the students and their actual help-seeking rates. Although personal barriers are common, systemic or contextual challenges also affect college students' help-seeking behaviors.

Indexed as

Health Services AccessibilityHelp-Seeking BehaviorIntentionMental DisordersMental Health ServicesPatient Acceptance of Health CareStudentsAdolescentHumansUniversitiesYoung Adultcollege studentsHelp‐seekinghelp‐seeking behaviorshelp‐seeking intentionsmental health barriers

Identifiers

PMID40077833
PMCPMC12447698

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.