Abstract:
This study examined determinants of psychological health-seeking behaviour
among students of selected public universities in Ghana. Specifically, the
study investigated whether locus of control, stigma and culture have effects on
the health-seeking behaviour of the respondents. The target population
comprised 5,369 regular undergraduate students in four public universities in
Ghana: University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), Kwame Nkrumah
University of Science and Technology (KNUST), University for Development
Studies (UDS) and University of Cape Coast (UCC). A sample of 588
respondents was selected from the four public universities for the study which
adopted the mixed methods research design, employed questionnaire and
interview for data collection. Locus of control, stigma, culture and attitudes
towards seeking professional psychological help short form (ATSPPHS-SF)
scales were employed to explore the relationship between health-seeking
behaviour and locus of control, stigmatization and culture. The independent t test, ANOVA and the Structural Equation Model were the statistical tools for
the data analysis, whilst the software packages for data analysis, editing,
coding and computation was the Statistical Product and Service Solution
(SPSS version 20). Findings revealed that age and gender have no significant
influence on the health-seeking behaviour of the students, but geographical
location has a significant effect. Also, each of the three independent variables
(locus of control, stigmatisation and culture) significantly predicted the health seeking behaviour of the respondents. These findings call for counsellors to
focus on anti-stigma campaigns, while paying critical attention to the cultural
orientation and the personality profiles of their clients.
