(PS8-24) Associations with Help-seeking Intentions Among College Students with Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors: Demographic, Psychosocial, and Social Media Usage Factors

Background

Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors (STBs) pose as a key public health concern for colleges. Previous research indicates low mental health service utilization among college students with STBs. Help-seeking intentions predict mental health care and can be a protective factor for severe outcomes, like suicide attempts. The COVID-19 pandemic saw an increased prevalence of mental health concerns and catalyzed new trends in mental health perceptions on social media. This study aims to understand which identities (including sexual and gender minorities (SGM)) promote or inhibit help-seeking behaviors among post-pandemic cohorts of students experiencing STBs, and to inform how these identities interact with social media use and clinical characteristics to promote better help-seeking. 

Methods

Participants were STB-endorsing college students aged 18-24, from the 196 universities participating in the 2022-2024 Healthy Minds Study (HMS). Cross-sectional Forward Stepwise logistic regressions will inform whether help-seeking intentions are predicted by various demographics (age, gender, sexual orientation, race, financial status), clinical characteristics (depression, anxiety, mental health perceptions, barriers), and social media variables (time and content). Additional analyses will investigate if the content of internet use (activism, harassment, forming relationships) moderates the relationship between time spent on social media and help-seeking intentions. 

Hypothesized Results

Pre-pandemic HMS cohorts had positive associations between help-seeking and anxiety symptoms and perceived treatment efficacy. Additionally, depressive symptoms, low perceived need, being Black, barriers to care, and psychological inflexibility were negatively associated with help-seeking (Bond et al., 2024). We expect similar results in the post-pandemic cohort. We also explore associations across different SGM identities and social media use. We hypothesize SGM identity will be associated with greater help-seeking intentions, however also a greater representation of SGM students in the STBs sample. We expect the relationship between time spent on social media and help-seeking intentions will be moderated by media content. Students engaging in relationship building and activism will have a positive relationship between time spent online and help-seeking intentions, whereas students who witnessed negative content and harassment will have a negative relationship between time spent online and help-seeking intentions. 

Discussion

Identifying particular identities and moderators of help-seeking can harness already occurring behaviors to facilitate the development of more inclusive access to care and pinpoint identities that may need more support to receive care.