Collegiate athletes experience mental health concerns at similar rates to non-athlete students, however, the student-athlete population underutilizes professional mental health help with only 10% of those in need seeking services. Criticisms of the extant research on student-athlete mental health help-seeking include studies that lack theoretical guidance, and convenience samples who are not experiencing a mental health issue. The aim of this study was to conduct a theoretically driven investigation assessing factors of help-seeking associated with the Health Belief Model and Reasoned Action Approach while sampling student-athletes who identified as currently experiencing a personal or emotional health concern. More specifically, the purpose of this study was to investigate which factors of help-seeking behavior predict the likelihood that a student-athlete will seek professional help, and to identify the differences in help-seeking factors between student-athletes with a lower likelihood of seeking help compared to those with a higher likelihood of seeking help. Participants were 269 NCAA student-athletes who completed an online survey assessing factors related to their help-seeking behavior. A multiple liner regression reveled that perceived benefits, perceived susceptibility, and perceived attitudes factors were significant predictors of the likelihood that a student-athlete would seek treatment. Results from a one-way MANOVA showed significant differences between the lower likelihood and the higher likelihood of seeking help group on the perceived seriousness, perceived susceptibility, perceived benefits, instrumental barriers, stigma-related barriers, and the perceived attitudes factors. Additional information gathered in this study suggests the most frequently reported factors which prevented student-athletes from seeking help include a belief the issues they are experiencing is not that serious, or a desire to seek help from a source other than a mental health professional. Findings from this study have implications for athletic departments, campus counseling centers, and future interventions designed to enhance mental health help-seeking. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2018. / March 7, 2018. / Help-Seeking, Mental Health, Student-Athletes / Includes bibliographical references. / Graig Chow, Professor Directing Dissertation; John Taylor, University Representative; Gershon Tenenbaum, Committee Member; Martin Swanbrow Becker, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_653372 |
| Contributors | Bird, Matthew David (author), Chow, Graig Michael (professor directing dissertation), Taylor, John (university representative), Tenenbaum, Gershon (committee member), Becker, Martin Swanbrow (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Education (degree granting college), Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems (degree granting departmentdgg) |
| Publisher | Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text, doctoral thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (110 pages), computer, application/pdf |
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