Minds Acting Together To Enhance Resilience: Prevention Workshops for College Students

The prevalence of mental health disorders among Latinx college students combined with low mental health treatment utilization is cause for concern. Prevention programs that include culturally relevant information may serve as an entryway for mental health services. Mental health literacy provides mental health information paired with practical action steps that assist individuals in preventing and recognizing mental health disorders and seeking treatment. MATTER (Minds Acting Together To Enhance Resilience) was developed to provide culturally relevant mental health literacy, reduce stigma, build healthy coping strategies, and increase help-seeking among Latinx college students. This study presents the results of an initial validation study for the MATTER program. We found an increase in mental health knowledge and attitudes toward seeking psychological help in a sample of Latinx college students after completing all sessions of the MATTER program. We discuss results in the context of the need for mental health literacy in border communities, where psychological resources are scarce and stigma toward mental health supports is high. The present study suggests that prevention programs that provide mental health literacy tailored to Latinx cultural values may improve knowledge of mental health and increase help-seeking attitudes among Latinx college students.