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