ONLINE MENTAL HEALTH INFORMATION SEEKING BEHAVIOUR AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN NIGERIAN PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES

Mental health disorders among youth have emerged as a significant global health burden, affecting approximately one out of seven individuals worldwide aged between 10 to 19 years. This study seeks to shed light on the online mental health information seeking behavior among undergraduate students in Nigerian private universities. The study addresses the online information seeking behaviors of undergraduates related to mental health. Using a descriptive research design, data was collected through questionnaire from a sample of 400 randomly selected undergraduate students from Covenant and Babcock Universities. The findings reveal that students predominantly seek mental health information online, with search engines and social media being the primary sources accessed. The study also revealed that 65% of undergraduates never sought professional assistance after their exposure to mental health information online. Depression, anxiety, and eating disorders emerged as the most frequently sought-after types of mental health information. Students utilized online mental health information for self-education, self-diagnosis, and to gain a better understanding of mental health. This study concludes that the understanding of undergraduate students' information-seeking behavior has implications on mental health education and support within university settings. The study recommends that online mental health communicators should develop messages that would motivate audiences to seek professional assistance for their respective mental health conditions, and should include communicative strategies like partnership with opinion leaders as well as survivors of mental health conditions that would enhance audience confidence in online mental health information.

青少年精神障碍已成为一项重大全球健康负担，全球约每7名10至19岁的青少年中便有1人受其困扰。本研究旨在探究尼日利亚私立大学本科生的在线心理健康信息搜索行为，聚焦本科生与心理健康相关的在线信息搜索活动。本研究采用描述性研究设计，通过问卷从Covenant大学与Babcock大学中随机抽取的400名本科生样本处收集数据。研究结果显示，绝大多数本科生会通过线上渠道获取心理健康信息，搜索引擎与社交媒体为其主要访问来源。研究同时发现，65%的本科生在接触线上心理健康信息后，从未寻求过专业帮助。抑郁、焦虑与进食障碍是最常被搜索的心理健康信息类别。本科生借助线上心理健康信息开展自我教育、自我诊断，并加深对心理健康的理解。本研究得出结论：明晰本科生的信息搜索行为，对大学校园环境下的心理健康教育与支持工作具有重要启示。本研究建议，在线心理健康传播者应打造能够引导受众针对自身心理健康问题寻求专业帮助的传播内容，并可采用与意见领袖、心理健康康复者合作等传播策略，以提升受众对线上心理健康信息的信任度。