Mental health literacy, perception of health, and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help across ethnic groups

This study aimed to examine mental health literacy, perception of health, and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help among individuals from 4 ethnic groups (Assyrian, Turkish, Arabic, and Kurdish) living in the multicultural context of Mardin, Türkiye. This descriptive, cross-sectional, and correlational study included 398 participants recruited using convenience and snowball sampling. Data were collected using a demographic characteristics form, the Mental Health Literacy Scale, the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale–Short Form, and the Perception of Health Scale. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent-samples t tests, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression. Significant differences were observed among ethnic groups in mental health literacy, perception of health, and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help ( P < .05). Mental health literacy was weakly and positively correlated with help-seeking attitudes ( r = 0.138, P = .006). Perception of health was positively correlated with both help-seeking attitudes ( r = 0.640, P < .001) and mental health literacy ( r = 0.328, P < .001). The multiple linear regression model explained 41.5% of the variance in help-seeking attitudes ( R 2 = .415). Perception of health showed a strong positive association with help-seeking attitudes (β = 0.666, P < .001), whereas mental health literacy showed a small negative coefficient after perception of health was included in the model (β = −0.080, P = .049). Mental health literacy, perception of health, and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help differed among the ethnic groups examined. Perception of health showed the strongest association with help-seeking attitudes. Given the cross-sectional design and the absence of direct measures of cultural beliefs, stigma, religiosity, and related constructs, the observed ethnic-group differences should not be interpreted as evidence of cultural or causal effects. These findings may inform context-sensitive approaches to mental health promotion and professional help-seeking in multicultural populations.