It is imperative that individuals who experience mental health issues to get help as early as possible so that they are equipped with skills and resources to overcome the problems. However, the presence of public stigma towards people with mental health issues may hinder them from getting the much-needed intervention. Indeed, many past studies have demonstrated that public stigma acted as one of the barriers for help seeking among those with mental health issues. . Hence, T this study aims to explore: (a) the influence of public stigma awareness on help-seeking intention; (b) the role of public stigma endorsement as a mediator between public stigma awareness and help-seeking intention; (c) the difference in stigma awareness, stigma endorsement; and (d) help-seeking intention between gender and between public and private university students. A total of 398 Malaysian undergraduates were recruited for this cross sectional study. Public stigma awareness was measured using Stigma Scale for Receiving Psychological Help, while public stigma endorsement was measured using Attribution Questionnaire. Help-seeking intention was measured using Mental Help Seeking Intention Scale. Results of the study that employed Pearson correlation analyses indicated a significant negative correlation between public stigma awareness and help-seeking intention, as well as between public stigma endorsement and help-seeking intention. Regression linear analysis revealed that public stigma awareness is a significant predictor for help-seeking intention. No significant differences were noted with regard to gender and types of university students. Sobel test showed that public stigma endorsement acts as a significant mediator in the influence of public stigma awareness on help-seeking intention. These findings can be applied in developing strategies to increase mental health services utilization among students, where emphasis should be placed on reducing public stigma endorsement. Further research is needed to investigate the role of public stigma awareness and public stigma endorsement on mental help-seeking behavior.
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