Psychological and religious predictors of help seeking attitudes among university students under perceived stress

This study aimed to examine how perceived stress, religious coping (both positive and negative), and resilience relate to Vietnamese university students’ attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help. It also investigated the mediating roles of religious coping and resilience in these relationships. Cross-sectional quantitative design using structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Data were collected online between November and December 2024 from students at multiple universities across Vietnam, coordinated by the Faculty of Psychology, Ho Chi Minh City University of Education. A total of 416 undergraduate students (263 females, 153 males; aged 18–25 years) completed the online survey. The sample included diverse academic majors, religious affiliations, and sexual orientations. Data were collected using the Socio-demographic Questionnaire, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), Brief Religious Coping Scale (Brief RCOPE), Brief Resilience Scale (BRS), and the Attitude Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale – Short Form (ATSPPH-SF). Perceived stress was positively associated with both positive and negative religious coping, and with greater openness toward professional help-seeking, but negatively related to resilience. Positive religious coping was a significant predictor of more favorable help-seeking attitudes and partially mediated the link between perceived stress and these attitudes. However, negative religious coping and resilience were not significantly associated with help-seeking attitudes and did not function as mediators. Subgroup analyses showed that LGBTQ + students were characterized by elevated stress and greater use of both positive and negative religious coping, whereas students with self-harm histories displayed higher stress and positive religious coping but lower resilience and help-seeking openness. Findings emphasize the dual role of religious coping as both a protective and maladaptive strategy in stressful situations. While positive coping enhances openness to help-seeking, resilience may act more as an internal resource than a motivator for external support. These results underscore the need for culturally sensitive interventions in universities that address not only psychological factors but also religious and social norms influencing mental health behavior.