HELP-SEEKING EXPERIENCE, STIGMA AND MENTAL HEALTH LITERACY AMONG SLOVAK UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Background: University years can be stressful, making students vulnerable and reluctant to seek mental health support.Aim: This study aims to examine the associations between gender, self-stigma, social stigma, help-seeking experiences, and mental health literacy among Slovak university students.From October 2024 to January 2025, 321 students (M age = 22.18, SD = 2.34; 63.9% women) participated via online (32.7%) and paper-based (67.3%) surveys.Measures included The General Help-Seeking Questionnaire, The Self-Stigma of Seeking Help Scale, The Perceptions of Stigmatization by Others for Seeking Help Scale, and The Mental Health Literacy Scale.Data analysis utilized descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression.Results: Most university students (68.8%) had not sought help from mental health professionals.Among the 31.2%who had, their visits (M = 12.11, SD = 20.4) were generally perceived as helpful (M = 3.72, SD = 1.28).Students exhibited high self-stigma and mental health literacy, but low social stigma.Correlation analysis showed significant associations between gender, self-stigma, social stigma, and mental health literacy, as well as between self-and social stigma, and self-stigma and past help-seeking experience.Multiple regression analysis indicated that self-, social stigma and gender were negatively associated with mental health literacy, suggesting lower self-and social stigma correlated with higher mental health literacy.Female students exhibited higher mental health literacy than male students.Conclusion: This study highlights the need for education and awareness campaigns to reduce stigma and improve mental health literacy, ultimately encouraging help-seeking behaviors among students.Future research is needed to better understand the relationship between help-seeking experiences and mental health literacy.