The effects of perceived stress, religious coping, and resilience on psychological help-seeking attitudes in undergraduate students

Objectives: This study investigated the interrelationships between perceived stress, religious coping, resilience, and help-seeking attitudes among university students. Design: A case-control study. Setting: Faculty of Psychology, Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Participants : 153 male students and 263 female students. Measurements : The Bio-Plex Pro human cytokine 27-plex test kit was used to assay cytokines/chemokines/growth factors in fasting plasma samples. Results: The analysis revealed that perceived stress was positively associated with both positive and negative religious coping, increased help-seeking, and decreased resilience. Positive religious coping was positively linked to help-seeking and partially mediated the relationship between perceived stress and help-seeking. In contrast, negative religious coping was inversely associated with resilience and help-seeking, while also acting as a partial mediator in the same pathway. Resilience did not show a significant direct association with help-seeking attitudes. These findings indicate that adaptive religious coping mechanisms play a central role in shaping students’ responses to psychological distress and their willingness to seek professional support. Discussion: The data emphasizes the relevance of cultural and spiritual dimensions in understanding mental health behaviors in non-Western academic contexts. Mental health programs in university settings may benefit from addressing both positive and negative aspects of religious coping to improve help-seeking engagement among students.