Research on predictors of psychological distress and willingness to seek professional psychological help among Belgrade university students

Primarni cilj istraživanja bio je utvrđivanje intenziteta i kvaliteta psihološkog distresa u populaciji studenata, kao i njegove povezanosti sa različitim faktorima uključujući socio-demografske osobine, radno angažovanje ispitanika, dimenzije profesionalne adaptibilnosti, i afektivne i fizičke karakteristike radnog konteksta. Sekundarni ciljevi odnosili su se na prevod, lingvističku i kulturnu adaptaciju i psihometrijsku validaciju instrumenata i utvrđivanje prediktora spremnosti za traženje profesionalne psihološke pomoći. Istraživanje je izvedeno po principu deskriptivne eksplorativne studije preseka, a diseminacija upitnika odvijala se u periodu mart-jun 2018. godine. Formirana su četiri različita uzorka od ukupno 3310 ispitanika; po jedan u svrhu validacije svakog od instrumenata i jedan u svrhu utvrđivanja prediktora psihološkog distresa i spremnosti na traženje profesionalne psihološke pomoći. Ispitanici su u sva četiri slučaja selektovani prema principu višefaznog proporcionalnog stratifikovanog uzorka. U statističkoj obradi podataka korišćene su deskriptivne statističke mere, Pirsonov i Spirmanov koeficijent korelacije, multipla linearna regresiona analiza i univarijatna i multipla ordinalna i Firtova logistička regresiona analiza. Psihomerijske karakteristike instrumenata u procesu validacije utvrđivane su uz pomoć eksploratorne i konfirmatorne faktorske analize i analizom pouzdanosti. Rezultati psihometrijske validacije Instrumenta za procenu psiholoških simptoma u savetovalištu, Dinamske skale za procenu u domenu profesije i Skale za procenu simboličke radne motivacije potvrdili su postojanje originalnih faktorskih struktura i visoku pouzdanost skala i subskala. Analiza intenziteta i kvaliteta psihološkog distresa ukazala je da najizraženiju dimenziju predstavlja samopoštovanje (AS=2.74, SD=0.80). Kao najizraženiji simptomi javljaju se simptomi akademskog distresa (AS=1.82, SD=1.07) i socijalne anksioznosti (AS=1.35, SD=1.04). Najslabije su bili izraženi simptomi zloupotrebe alkohola (AS=0.69, SD=0.94) i generalizovane anksioznosti (AS=0.63, SD=0.84). Dalja analiza rezultata ukazuje da se studenti razlikuju po polu, godini i tipu studija, religioznosti i obrazovanju roditelja, kao i po vremenu koje posvećuju studiranju kada se posmatraju različiti aspekti distresa. Nadalje, rezultati ukazuju da u okviru dimenzija profesionale adaptibilnosti mehanizmi istinske i manične reparacije imaju adaptivnu funkciju, dok je funkcija mehanizama manije i zavisti maladaptivna. Afektivne dimenzije radnog konteksta predstavljaju dodatni činilac u objašnjenju psiholoških simptoma; studenti koji su kontekst procenjivali kao zadovoljavajuć i vredan očuvanja imali su izraženije samopoštovanje i manje izražene sve dimenzije psihološkog distresa. Spremnost na traženje profesionalne psihološke pomoći ispitivali smo skalom Stavova prema traženju profesionalne psihološke pomoći. Ovi stavovi bili su pozitivniji kod devojaka, kod studenata medicinskih nauka, kod onih koji su se u većoj meri oslanjali na mehanizam istinske reparacije a u manjoj meri na mehanizam manije, i kod onih koji su imali izraženije simptome akademskog distresa i socijalne anksioznosti. Zaključak ovog doktorskog istraživanja ukazuje da je instumente čije smo psihometrijske karakteristike proveravali moguće primeniti u različitim sredinama, kao i da se studenti nalaze pred izazovima mentalnog zdravlja uz spremnost da koriste odgovarajuće službe koje u našoj zemlji još uvek nisu dovoljno razvijene.The primary aim of this research was to determine the intensity and quality of the psychological distress in student population, as well as its relationship to the various factors including socio-demographic variables, work engagement, career adaptability, and affective and physical characteristics of the work context. The secondary goals were translation, linguistic and cultural adaptation, and psychometric validation of the instruments, and the examination of the predictors of willingness for seeking professional psychological help. The research was organized as a cross-sectional study and the questionnaire dissemination took place in the period from March to June, 2018. Four different samples comprising of 3310 respondents in total were formed; one for the purpose of validation of each of the instruments and one for the purpose of determination of the predictors of psychological distress and willingness to seek professional psychological help.In all four cases, the subjects were selected according to the principle of multistage proportional stratified sampling. The statistical analysis comprised descriptive statics, Pearson’s and Spearman’s correlation coefficients, multiple linear regression analysis, univariate and multiple ordinal regression analysis and Firth’s logistic regression analysis. Psychometric characteristics of the instruments were assessed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and analysis of reliability. The results of psychometric validation of the Counseling Center Assessment of Psychological Symptoms scale, the Dynamic Career Scale, and the Work Symbolic Motivation Scale confirmed the original factor structures and high reliability of the scales and subscales. The analysis of the intensity and quality of the psychological distress showed that the highest scores were obtained at Self-esteem (AS=2.74, SD=0.80). Symptoms of Academic distress (AS = 1.82, SD = 1.07) and Social anxiety (AS = 1.35, SD = 1.04) appear as the most pronounced symptoms. The least pronounced were Alcohol Abuse (AS = 0.69, SD = 0.94) and Generalized Anxiety (AS = 0.63, SD = 0.84) symptoms. Further analysis indicates that students differ in gender, age and type of study, religiosity and parental education, as well as in the time they devote to studying when different aspects of distress are observed. Furthermore, the results indicate that, within the dimensions of professional adaptability, the true and manic reparation are adaptive, while mania and envy are maladaptive mechanisms. Affective dimensions of the work context are an additional factor in the explanation of psychological symptoms; the students who perceived their context as more satisfying and worth of preservation had higher self-esteem and lower levels of all the aspects of psychological distress. The willingness to seek professional psychological help was examined by the Attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help scale.These attitudes were more positive in females, in medical students, in those who relied more on true reparation and less on mania, and in those who had more pronounced symptoms of academic distress and social anxiety. In conclusion, this doctoral research indicates that the instruments whose psychometric characteristics were tested can be applied in different environments, as well as that students face mental health challenges with a willingess to use appropriate services that are not yet sufficiently developed in our country