Background
Method
Design, participants, setting
Measure
Variables measured
Procedure
Coding helping intentions question
Statistical analyses
Results
Participant characteristics
Variables | Undergraduates who responded to helping intentions question | Those whose responses were scored using ALGEE system | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
(n = 4442) | (n = 1811) | |||
n | % | n | % | |
Gender | ||||
Male | 1338 | 30.1 | 667 | 36.8 |
Female | 3100 | 69.8 | 1142 | 63.1 |
Faculty | ||||
Medicine | 566 | 12.7 | 522 | 28.8 |
Arts and Education1
| 1159 | 26.1 | 50 | 2.8 |
Law | 607 | 13.7 | 114 | 6.3 |
Management and Finance | 980 | 22.1 | 460 | 25.4 |
Science | 631 | 14.2 | 411 | 22.7 |
School of Computing | 498 | 11.2 | 254 | 14.0 |
Year of study | ||||
1st year | 1842 | 41.5 | 524 | 28.9 |
2nd year | 1181 | 26.6 | 504 | 27.8 |
3rd year | 796 | 17.9 | 333 | 18.4 |
4th year | 515 | 11.6 | 344 | 19.0 |
5th year (Medicine)2
| 108 | 2.4 | 106 | 5.9 |
Age group | ||||
18–20 years | 485 | 10.9 | 155 | 8.6 |
21–23 years | 3189 | 71.9 | 1180 | 65.2 |
24 years and above | 763 | 17.2 | 476 | 26.3 |
Religion | ||||
Buddhist | 3870 | 87.1 | 1425 | 78.7 |
Hindu | 145 | 3.3 | 118 | 6.5 |
Islamic | 146 | 3.3 | 79 | 4.4 |
Roman Catholic | 205 | 4.6 | 135 | 7.5 |
Other | 70 | 1.6 | 49 | 2.7 |
Residence when going to University | ||||
Home | 1662 | 37.4 | 973 | 53.7 |
Hostel | 1338 | 30.1 | 335 | 18.5 |
Rented place | 1126 | 25.3 | 390 | 21.5 |
Home of friend or relative | 262 | 5.9 | 81 | 4.5 |
Other | 50 | 1.1 | 30 | 1.7 |
Exposure to problem through family/ friends | ||||
No | 1684 | 37.9 | 632 | 34.9 |
Yes | 1646 | 37.1 | 743 | 41.0 |
Don’t know | 983 | 22.1 | 382 | 21.1 |
Personal experience of problem | ||||
No | 2395 | 53.9 | 968 | 53.5 |
Yes | 1461 | 32.9 | 581 | 32.1 |
Don’t know | 305 | 6.9 | 170 | 9.4 |
Screening positive for Major Depression3
| (n = 4107) | (n = 1671) | ||
No | 3731 | 90.8 | 1555 | 93.1 |
Yes | 376 | 9.2 | 116 | 6.9 |
Helping intentions in relation to descriptive coding categories
Descriptive category | Coding sub-categories | % of responses (95% CI) (n = 4442) |
---|---|---|
Consider approach to person | set up the context; become close or trustworthy to the person; engage the person; indicate concern and readiness to talk | 6.9 (6.1–7.6) |
Assess risk of harm | assess for risk of harm to oneself or others | 0.1 (0–0.2) |
Explore problem | listen and/or talk about the problem; attempt to understand problem | 52.1 (50.6–53.5) |
Provide support | provide emotional comfort and encouragement; associate with the person closely; provide advice and opinions; brain storm; give information; help the person (e.g., with daily activities, needs); do something to help | 64.9 (63.5–66.3) |
Encourage/help to seek professional help | help from: psychiatrist/related help; psychologist; counsellor/counselling; doctor/ medical assistance/medicine; student counsellor; university medical officer; mental health professional at university psychiatry unit; unspecified mental health professional; professional; treatment | 29.6 (28.3–31.0) |
Encourage/help to seek informal help | help from: parents/family; friends; elders; someone close to the person; university personnel; help to socialise/interact with friends/ others | 9.8 (9.0–10.7) |
Encourage/help in self-help strategies | enjoyable/relaxing/extra-curricular activities; take a break; religious activities; meditation; self-help books and movies; distraction and or distancing from problem | 10.6 (9.7–11.5) |
Example 1: “Ask from her about the problem she has and try to make her mind, that everyone can face such problems during life.” (response 433)Example 2: “I will listen to her problem and convince her that it is a small problem compared to some problems that some people have.” (response 4643)
Correlates of descriptive coding categories
Predictor variables | Approach person | Explore problem | Provide support | Encourage/help to get professional help | Encourage/help to get informal help | Encourage/help to engage in self-help |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adjusted and unadjusted+ OR (99% CI) | Adjusted and unadjusted+ OR (99% CI) | Adjusted and unadjusted+ OR (99% CI) | Adjusted and unadjusted+ OR (99% CI) | Adjusted and unadjusted+ OR (99% CI) | Adjusted and unadjusted+ OR (99% CI) | |
Gender (reference group: Male) | ||||||
Female | 1.43*** (1.17, 1.75)
1.44
***
(1.21, 1.70)
| 1.46** (1.02, 2.09)
1.41
**
(1.04, 1.90)
| ||||
Faculty (reference group: Medicine) | ||||||
Management and Finance | 1.52** (1.02, 2.24)
2.65
***
(2.00, 3.52)
| |||||
Year (reference group: 1st year) | ||||||
2nd Year | 0.58** (0.36, 0.93)
0.62
***
(0.42, 0.91)
| 0.59** (0.39, 0.90)
0.63
***
(0.45, 0.88)
| ||||
3rd Year | 0.74** (0.55, 0.99)
0.68
***
(0.55, 0.86)
| |||||
5th Year (Medicine) | 0.32*** (0.14, 0.73)
0.20
***
(0.11, 0.34)
| 2.39** (1.06, 5.38)
4.47
***
(2.63, 7.62)
| ||||
Exposure to problem through personal experience (reference group: response: no) | ||||||
Response: Yes | 1.26** (1.00, 1.58)
1.40
***
(1.17, 1.68)
| 0.73** (0.57, 0.93)
0.64
***
(0.52, 0.77)
| 1.47** (1.05, 2.04)
1.46
***
(1.12, 1.92)
| |||
Recognition of problem in case vignette (reference group: not recognised) | ||||||
Recognised as depression | 0.49*** (0.36, 0.68)
0.29
***
(0.22, 0.37)
| 3.26*** (2.32, 4.59)
4.29
***
(3.26, 5.63)
| ||||
Recognised using other mental health-related label | 0.54*** (0.43, 0.68)
0.59
***
(0.48, 0.72)
| 2.22*** (1.72, 2.86)
2.50
***
(1.99, 3.14)
| ||||
Stigma scale scores | ||||||
Weak-not-Sick Scale | 1.11*** (1.07, 1.16)
1.14
***
(1.10, 1.18)
| 0.88*** (0.85, 0.92)
0.86
***
(0.83, 0.89)
| 0.92** (0.86, 0.98)
0.94
**
(0.89, 1.00)
| |||
Dangerous-Undesirable Scale | 0.93** (0.88, 0.98)
0.91
***
(0.87, 0.95)
| |||||
Social Distance Scale | 0.94** (0.89, 1.00)
0.94
**
(0.89, 0.99)
| |||||
Nagelkerke R
2
(when all variables are entered simultaneously into model) | 0.04 | 0.03 | 0.12 | 0.11 | 0.05 | 0.04 |
-
Female undergraduates had higher odds of intending to explore the problem and of encouraging/helping Z to obtain informal help.
-
Faculty of study was only a predictor with regard to giving support, where odds of intending to give support were higher among Management and Finance undergraduates as compared to Medical undergraduates.
-
In comparison to 1st year undergraduates, while those in the 2nd year had lower odds of indicating their approach to Z and intending to encourage/help Z to get informal help, those in the 3rd year had lower odds of intending to provide support. Compared to the first-years, 5th year Medical undergraduates had lower odds of indicating that they would provide support to Z but higher odds of intending to encourage/help Z to get professional help.
-
Those who had personally experienced the problem had higher odds of intending to provide support and of encouraging/helping Z to engage in self-help strategies, but lower odds of indicating that they would encourage/help Z to get professional help.
-
Those who recognised the problem as depression or used other mental health-related labels for the problem had lower odds of indicating that they would provide support, but higher odds of indicating that they would encourage/help Z to get professional help.
-
Those who had higher scores on the Weak-not-Sick scale had higher odds of indicating provision of support, but lower odds of intending to encourage/help Z to get both professional and informal help. Those who had higher scores on the Dangerous-Undesirable scale had lower odds of intending to provide Z support. Those who had higher scores on the Social Distance scale had lower odds of intending to encourage/help Z to engage in self-help activities.
ALGEE scores of those who responded in English
Unhelpful responses
Correlates of total ALGEE scores
Predictor variable | Adjusted and unadjusted + standardised regression coefficient (99% CI) | |
---|---|---|
Year (reference group: 1st year) | ||
3rd Year | −0.11**
−0.07
**
| (−0.20, −0.03)
(−0.13, −0.01)
|
Recognition of problem in case vignette (reference group: not recognised) | ||
not recognised
| ||
Recognised as “depression” | 0.13***
0.10
***
| (0.05, 0.22)
(0.04, 0.16)
|
Stigma Scale Scores | ||
Weak-not-Sick Scale | −0.12***
−0.12
***
| (−0.18, −0.05)
(−0.18, −0.06)
|
Social Distance Scale | −0.10***
−0.09
***
| (−0.17, −0.03)
(−0.16, −0.03)
|
Adjusted R2 (when all variables are entered simultaneously into model) | 0.06 |