ArticleBMC medical education2026
The influence of peer support on medical students' professional psychological help-seeking intention: the chain mediating role of professional psychological help-seeking stigma and self-efficacy.
Article in BMC medical education, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- #MEDToo - sexual harassment in medical education: perceptions and coping strategies of medical students in Germany, a qualitative study.BMC medical education · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purposeThis study aimed to explore the path mechanism of professional psychological help-seeking stigma and self-efficacy in the influence of peer support on professional psychological help-seeking intention among medical students.
methodsA convenience sampling method was used to recruit 1,087 medical students for the survey. Data were collected using four standardized instruments: the Peer Support Scale, the Professional Psychological Help-Seeking Intention Questionnaire, the Professional Psychological Help-Seeking Stigma Questionnaire, and the Self-Efficacy Questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and correlation analyses were conducted using SPSS 26.0. Furthermore, a chain mediation model was constructed using Model 6 of the PROCESS 4.0 macro to examine the mediating roles of psychological help-seeking stigma and self-efficacy in the association between peer support and professional psychological help-seeking intention.
resultsThe analysis revealed that both psychological help-seeking stigma and self-efficacy independently mediated the relationship between peer support and professional psychological help-seeking intention, with effect sizes of 0.078 (95% CI: 0.049–0.111) and 0.064 (95% CI: 0.036–0.095), respectively. In addition, a significant chain mediation effect was observed, with peer support being associated with professional psychological help-seeking intention via a sequential pathway characterised by lower psychological help-seeking stigma and higher self-efficacy. The effect size of this chain mediating pathway was 0.015 (95% CI: 0.007–0.024).
conclusionIn summary, peer support, professional psychological help-seeking stigma, and self-efficacy were identified as key factors shaping medical students’ professional psychological help-seeking intention. The findings further highlight that professional psychological help-seeking stigma and self-efficacy jointly function as a chain mediating mechanism through which peer support exerts an influence on students’ professional psychological help-seeking intention.
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