Examining mental health literacy, help-seeking behaviours and Intentions, and wellbeing amongst Australian healthcare professionals

The aim of this study was to examine current mental health literacy (MHL) amongst Australian healthcare professionals and explore how this related to their help-seeking intentions, behaviours, and wellbeing. Participants included 30 male and 36 female AHPRA-registered professionals who completed an online survey consisting of four established psychometric scales. Data was examined using linear regressions and mediation analyses. Results indicated that for this representative sample, MHL positively predicted formal help-seeking intentions (HSI), but not informal HSI. Higher MHL also positively predicted better wellbeing and overall help-seeking behaviour (HSB), reflecting the importance of building, and maintaining high MHL amongst healthcare professionals. HSI was not found to mediate the relationship between MHL and HSB, however, formal HSI did partially mediate the relationship between MHL and formal HSB. Contrary to expectation, help-seeking (both intentions and behaviour) was not found to directly predict wellbeing in this sample. Although an underpowered sample, gender differences were notable with males recording significantly lower MHL than females. Males also indicated a preference for informal help sources over formal. Given the findings relating to formal and informal help seeking intentions and behaviours, it is recommended that future research differentiates between intention to seek formal or informal sources of help when examining this construct. Future studies may also benefit from incorporating additional measures of MHL, and further exploring differences between professional occupations within healthcare.