Students' self-reports of help-seeking: The impact of psychological problems, stress, and demographic variables on utilization of formal and informalsupport

Undergraduates (N = 248) at a private, midsize, Midwestern university provi ded self-reports of their psychological problems; stress; demographic varia bles; and people to whom they talked when they had problems. Help sources r anged from natural to formal support. Three patterns of psychological probl ems emerged: internalized distress; alcohol abuse; and dysfunctional eating . Demographic variables included, but were not limited to; gender, age, cla ss, international student status, ethnicity, major, religion, residence, an d parental income. Neither levels of psychological problems nor stress had much relation to self-reported talking, although internalized distress pred icted talking to a counselor. Many demographic variables, particularly gend er, international student status, ethnicity, full-time versus part-time sta tus, and major, predicted talking to help sources. Females acknowledged tal king more frequently, but genders showed the same preferences for help sour ces. Results raise issues of helping students, particularly those with alco hol abuse or eating problems, through either arenas or personnel which are nontraditional.