Using the Theory of Planned Behavior to Predict Korean College Students' Help-Seeking Intention

Abstract

When dealing with the mental health concerns of college students, access to professional mental health services is necessary to enable early identification and prevention of severe mental health issues. Accordingly, this study used the theory of planned behavior (TPB) as a theoretical framework to determine the predictors of help-seeking intentions among college students in Korea. The authors developed a TPB questionnaire to measure attitudes, subjective norms, behavioral control, and intentions for seeking help and subsequently validated it via the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The authors considered mental health condition as a pre-existing factor that influences TPB variables. In addition, they deemed knowledge of professional mental health services as a factor influencing perceived behavioral control regarding help-seeking behavior among Korean college students. The research hypotheses were stated as follows: (H1) mental health conditions would influence TPB variables, which would in turn influence their intentions to seek help, and (H2) knowledge about professional mental health services would influence perceived behavioral control. With 300 undergraduate and graduate students, our results confirmed that mental health condition and knowledge about professional mental health services were associated with TPB variables, and all of the TPB variables we examined predicted intention to seek help.