Mental Health Awareness among University Students: A Study of Knowledge, Family Influence, Media Exposure and Government Initiatives

Mental health is the condition of a person on how they cope or manage their emotional and psychological. However, in Malaysia, especially in the higher level of education, many students are faced with the problems of mental health due to the lack of awareness regarding this issue. The environment in the university should be fun with friends at the same time with the learning process itself. If the students are faced with the issue of mental health, then it affects their academic performance. The objectives of this study are to identify the level of mental health awareness among university students, to examine the relationship between knowledge, family influence, media exposure, and government initiatives towards mental health awareness among university students and to find out the most significant factors that contributed to mental health awareness among university students. Furthermore, the data collected through questionnaires by the university students specifically in UiTM Seremban and it has been conducted with a total of 405 respondents. This study uses a quantitative method where the data gathered through data collection. From the data gathered, Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyse the result. The data were analysed with Descriptive Statistics, Pearson Correlation, and Multiple Regression. The findings demonstrate that all variables examined significantly influence mental health awareness among university students, with knowledge emerging as the most significant factor contributing to students’ awareness of mental health issues. This study also provides recommendations to increase mental health awareness among university students with strengthening the role of government, parents, and media exposure.

Mental Health Awareness; University Students; Family influence; Knowledge; Government initiative

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