Exploring Preference to Avoid or Seek Help in Person and Online Among College Students with Suicidal Ideation

Objectives: Suicidal thoughts, for which college students are at risk, tend to be negatively associated with intentions to seek therapy, particularly among college-aged men. Emerging research suggests college students may seek psychological help online; however, factors that explain why they avoid help and/or may prefer online help remain unknown. Method: 816 college students completed measures of suicidal ideation, help-seeking intentions, and theoretical mediators and moderators of their relationship. Results: Suicidal ideation was associated with stronger preference for online help among female, but not male respondents. The indirect effect of suicidal ideation on help negation via interpersonal difficulties was positive where self-concealment was high but negative where it was low. This pattern, however, was not found for online help preference. Conclusions: Online interventions can augment suicide prevention and intervention for college students. However, suicidal male students may be less likely to utilize online help sources. The mechanisms underlying this gender difference remain unclear. More research is needed to understand how help-negation in college-aged men can be addressed in online intervention platforms.