ArticleBMC public health2026
Psychological distress, help-seeking behavior, and barriers to mental health care among Yemeni undergraduate students: a cross-sectional multi-university study.
Article in BMC public health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundUniversity students are increasingly vulnerable to psychological distress, yet many do not seek professional mental health care. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of psychological distress, patterns of help-seeking behavior, and the barriers to accessing mental health services among Yemeni undergraduate students.
methodsA cross-sectional online survey was conducted among 2,872 undergraduate students from 16 universities across Yemen. Psychological distress was screened using the General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28), and perceived barriers to care were assessed using the Barriers to Access to Care Evaluation (BACE-III) scale. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, logistic regression, and correlation analyses were performed to examine associations between demographic factors, psychological distress, and perceived barriers to care.
resultsNearly half of the participants (49.7%) screened positive for psychological distress. Among those with psychological distress, 92.2% had not sought professional mental health care. The most commonly reported barriers included wanting to solve problems independently (69.2%), preference for traditional or religious healing methods (54.2%), and uncertainty about where to obtain professional care (52.2%). Additional barriers included discomfort discussing personal emotions (50.9%), lack of someone to facilitate access to care (50.2%), and concern about family perceptions (47.6%). Attitudinal and instrumental barriers were more frequently reported than stigma-related barriers. Logistic regression analysis identified female sex and a history of mental disorders as significant predictors of psychological distress.
conclusionPsychological distress appears to be common among Yemeni undergraduate students, while professional mental health care utilization remains very low. Attitudinal and practical barriers, particularly self-reliance and limited awareness of available services, may play an important role in discouraging help-seeking. Efforts to improve mental health literacy, expand accessible counseling services, and develop culturally appropriate support systems may help address unmet mental health needs among university students in Yemen.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.