Impact of Perceived Campus Accessibility on Mental Health Help-Seeking Intentions in Students with Non-Apparent Disabilities
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Background: University students with non-apparent disabilities may encounter physical, institutional, and social barriers that influence their willingness to seek mental health support. Objective: To examine the association between perceived campus accessibility and mental health help-seeking intentions among university students with non-apparent disabilities. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted over four months in universities in the urban region of Sindh, Pakistan. Eighty-four students aged ≥18 years with self-reported non-apparent disabilities were recruited through purposive sampling. Perceived campus accessibility was assessed using the Campus Climate and Accessibility Perception Scale, and help-seeking intentions were assessed using the General Help-Seeking Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation, independent-samples t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and multiple linear regression. Results: Participants had a mean age of 21.8 ± 2.4 years, and 58.3% were female. Mean accessibility and help-seeking scores were 68.9 ± 11.7 and 31.6 ± 7.8, respectively. Campus accessibility was positively associated with help-seeking intentions (r=0.58, 95% CI 0.42–0.71; p<0.001). Social inclusion showed the largest observed domain correlation (r=0.62, p<0.001). After adjustment for age, gender, academic level, and disability type, accessibility remained positively associated with help-seeking intentions (standardized β=0.52, p<0.001). Conclusion: Greater perceived campus accessibility was associated with stronger mental health help-seeking intentions among students with non-apparent disabilities
Article Details
Issue
Section
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
References
1. Solis Garcia P, Real Castelao S, Barreiro-Collazo AJBS. Trends and challenges in the mental health of university students with disabilities: A systematic review. 2024;14(2):111.
2. Bork SJ, Mondisa J-L. Engineering Graduate Students’ Mental Health: A Scoping. 2022.
3. Beardmore D, Sandekian R, Bielefeldt A, editors. Supporting STEM graduate students with dis/abilities: Opportunities for Universal Design for Learning. 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition; 2022.
4. Wiesenthal NJ, Gin LE, Cooper KMJIJoSE. Face negotiation in graduate school: the decision to conceal or reveal depression among life sciences Ph. D. students in the United States. 2023;10(1):35.
5. Rodrigo S, Wont L, Harris S, Wilson S, Malone A, Stelitano L, et al. The state of learning disabilities: Navigating the transition to adulthood. 2024.
6. Daniels-Mayes S, Harpur P, Stein MA. Strategic human rights-based policy reforms for making Australian universities equally accessible to students, staff, and faculty who are Indigenous people with disability. Research Handbook on Disability Policy: Edward Elgar Publishing; 2023. p. 402-17.
7. Kattari SK, Hecht HK, Isaacs YE. Sexy spoonies and crip sex: Sexuality and disability in a social work context. The Routledge international handbook of social work and sexualities: Routledge; 2021. p. 269-84.
8. O'Neill KL. Becoming symptom notation: A study of choreography for mad and hidden disability symptomologies: University of Illinois at Chicago; 2021.
9. Lovette BC, Kanaya MR, Grunberg VA, McKinnon E, Vranceanu A-M, Greenberg JJNr. “Alone in the dark”: A qualitative study of treatment experiences among young adults with a recent concussion and anxiety. 2024;34(6):781-801.
10. Branam LS, Yigit I, Haji S, Clark J, Perkins JMJIjoer, health p. Kurdish refugee beliefs about mental health and help-seeking: a community-engaged research study in Tennessee. 2023;20(2):1224.
11. Roberson CA, Barefield T, Griffith EJTJoAL. Students with disabilities and library services: Blending accommodation and universal design. 2022;48(4):102531.
12. Bennett H, Allitt B, Hanna FJFiPH. A perspective on mental health literacy and mental health issues among Australian youth: Cultural, social, and environmental evidence! 2023;11:1065784.
13. Tham C. Mental Health Stigma and Help-Seeking Behaviors Among Eastern Asian/Eastern Asian American College Students and Their Parents: A Mix-Method and Art Therapy Intervention Study. 2024.
14. Rahajeng UW, Hendriani W, Paramita PPJD. Navigating higher education challenges: A review of strategies among students with disabilities in Indonesia. 2024;4(3):678-95.
15. Shafi F, Karunakaran A, Ahmad FJIjoer, health p. Autism, stigma, and South Asian immigrant families in Canada. 2024;21(3):369.
16. Beaux H, Karimi P, Pop O, Clark R, editors. Guiding empowerment model: Liberating neurodiversity in online higher education. 2024 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE); 2024: IEEE.
17. Mogotsi I, Otchere YO, Botchway I, Muthoni Y, Gariseb R, Ramalepe LMJJoSI. Psychosocial correlates of LGBTIQ+ experiences in selected African countries: Reimagining LGBTIQ+ research. 2024;80(3):1079-111.
18. Waller BY, Harris J, Quinn CRJT, Violence,, Abuse. Caught in the crossroad: An intersectional examination of African American women intimate partner violence survivors’ help seeking. 2022;23(4):1235-48.