Help-seeking attitudes : a study of University of KwaZulu-Natal students.
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Date
2015
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Abstract
The study examined the help-seeking attitudes and behaviour of students of the University of
KwaZulu-Natal. The aim was to explore the frequently encountered problems that students
face, their preferred sources of help for those problems and their attitudes towards
psychological help.
One-hundred-and-fifty undergraduate and post-graduate students from the University of
KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg campus, participated in the study. The sample was selected
by means of non-probability convenient sampling due to the ease of this technique. The
instruments for the study consisted of an adapted questionnaire that consisted of three
sections.
The data collected was quantitative in nature. Data was then captured in the Statistical
Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and presented in frequency tables.
The findings revealed nine significant problems frequently encountered by the students. At
the top of the list participants reported that financial problems were the most widespread
problem encountered by them. The study also revealed, as expected, that close friends were
the preferred sources of help solicited by the students. The study further discovered that
students had an intermediate attitude towards professional psychological help. This finding
depicts a slight shift from previous studies which reported a trend of negative attitudes among
students, which means some students are starting to understand the role and value of
professional psychological services.
The implications of these findings were drawn and some recommendations for clinical
practice and further studies were presented.
Description
Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg 2015.
Keywords
University of KwaZulu-Natal--Students., Students--South Africa--KwaZulu-Natal--Psychological aspects., College students--South Africa--KwaZulu-Natal--Attitudes., College students--South Africa--KwaZulu-Natal--Conduct of life., Theses--Clinical psychology.