Determination of the Prevalence of Help-Seeking Behaviours for Depression among Students in Public Universities in Kenya.

Abstract

Help-seeking is a complex decision-making process employed to respond to a health problem challenging personal coping abilities and is triggered when task demands exceed coping abilities or resources. This process consists of a number of steps including, awareness and appraisal; determination of need for help; awareness of the sources of help; and finally, willingness to disclose difficulties to a help source. This research sought to examine the prevalence of help-seeking behaviours among students in public universities in Kenya. The study utilised a random sample of 593 respondents from a population of 896 students of Kisii University. A random sample was used because it has a tendency of being free from bias and, provides a more representative sample of the population. The study was supported by the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). Participants were asked among other questions to indicate whether or not they have sought help for an emotional problem during the past six months. The study employed quantitative methods to analyse data to identify and characterise respondent characteristics. The study findings revealed that gender, age, year of study, residency, field of study, and religious affiliation are among factors that have a higher influence on the prevalence of depression. The study revealed that university students display a low help seeking rate (37.8%) compared to a high prevalence of depression (62.3%). Therefore, there is need to increase university students coping strategies to enhance health outcomes.