Boyes, Joanne M. (2012) Health Status and Help-Seeking Behaviour of People Accessing Support Services at a Regional Australian University Compared to those Accessing Community Support Services. Doctorate (other than PhD) thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
The health status of a university and community sample was investigated with regards to their perceptions of their current health and risky health behaviours. In addition, their help-seeking behaviours were explored using Levanthal, Meyer, and Nerenz’s (1980) Common Sense Model (CSM) of illness representations and the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA; Schwarzer, 2008a). The university sample was recruited through the health service of a regional university and through the Psychology Department. There were 257 participants in this group, with a mean age of 31.6 years. The community sample was recruited via a mail out through a community organisation who provided in-home support services and through support group meetings. There were 118 participants in the community sample with a mean age of 51.1 years. The results of the study were that both groups had accessed support from family and friends prior to accessing professional support; both groups had experienced some distress; and both groups reported low core self-evaluations. The university group reported more support from family and friends, and more of the following: problem-focused coping, humorous coping, socially-supported coping, and spiritual coping. Conversely, the community group reported higher levels of concern about the problem they were seeking help for, and reported lower core self-evaluations than the university group. The use of the HAPA model is effective for predicting behavioural change following help-seeking with 44% of the variance explained for the university group and 31% of the variance explained for the community group. Risk perception did not predict intentions, and pre-action self-efficacy was found to be the main predictor of intentions for the university group only. Action planning was a significant contributor to the prediction of behaviour change for both groups partially supporting the validity of the HAPA model. This study provided support for the importance of addressing the behaviour-intention gap and for the premise that different phase-specific self-efficacies may be accessed at the same point in time. It was concluded that help-seeking is a process that is influenced by the social environment and one’s personality, amongst many other variables. Good preventative health services rely on professionals remembering that accessing help is an interpersonal process and that they have the power to influence a variety of outcomes for individuals and the community.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Doctorate (other than PhD)) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Sciences - Department of Psychology (Up to 30 Jun 2013) |
| Supervisors: | Tony Machin |
| Qualification: | Doctor of Psychology (Health) |
| Date Deposited: | 24 Sep 2025 23:13 |
| Last Modified: | 24 Sep 2025 23:13 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | health ; help-seeking behaviours ; self-evaluation ; coping mechanisms ; social environment |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52173 |
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