College Students’ Intentions to Seek Help for Suicidal Ideation: Accounting for the Help-Negation Effect

Help-seeking attitudes, stigma concerns, & perceptions of social support were examined as possible mediators of help-negation. Data were collected from a nonclinical sample of 321 college undergraduates at a midwestern university. Findings provided partial support for the mediation hypotheses. Help-seeking attitudes & stigma were significant predictors of help-seeking intentions, but did not mediate help-negation for professional sources. Perceptions of social support, on the other hand, fully mediated help-negation for nonprofessional sources. (34 refs.) JA