{"title":"Help-seeking anxiety, psychological distress, and suicidal ideation among medical and nursing students: A cross-sectional study.","authors":"Kentaro Kawabe, Yu Matsumoto, Yasutaka Ihara, Fumie Horiuchi","doi":"10.1002/pcn5.70353","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aim: </strong>Suicide among young adults has become a serious public health concern. In Japan, suicide is a leading cause of death among adolescents and young adults. Suicidal ideation is a clinically meaningful psychological burden among young adults. However, the associations of suicidal ideation with help-seeking anxiety, psychological distress, and subjective well-being among healthcare students have not been explored sufficiently. This study aimed to examine the cross-sectional associations of help-seeking anxiety, psychological distress, and subjective well-being with suicidal ideation among first-year healthcare students.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted among 142 first-year medical and nursing university students in Japan. Suicidal ideation was assessed using the Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire, psychological distress was assessed using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, subjective well-being was assessed using the World Health Organization 5-item Well-Being Index (WHO-5), and help-seeking anxiety was assessed using the Thoughts About Therapy Survey. Associations among help-seeking anxiety, psychological distress, subjective well-being, and suicidal ideation were examined using Spearman's correlation analysis and multivariable regression analyses.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Higher help-seeking anxiety was associated with higher levels of suicidal ideation and psychological distress. Psychological distress was also associated with suicidal ideation, whereas subjective well-being was not clearly associated with suicidal ideation. In the multivariable regression analyses, help-seeking anxiety remained associated with suicidal ideation after accounting for psychological distress and subjective well-being. Additionally, most students reported having someone to consult when experiencing distress; however, awareness of university mental health services was limited.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>These findings highlight suicidal ideation as a clinically meaningful psychological burden among first-year healthcare students and suggest that psychological distress and help-seeking anxiety are associated with suicidal ideation.</p>","PeriodicalId":74405,"journal":{"name":"PCN reports : psychiatry and clinical neurosciences","volume":"5 2","pages":"e70353"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3000,"publicationDate":"2026-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13305328/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"PCN reports : psychiatry and clinical neurosciences","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1002/pcn5.70353","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2026/6/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Aim: Suicide among young adults has become a serious public health concern. In Japan, suicide is a leading cause of death among adolescents and young adults. Suicidal ideation is a clinically meaningful psychological burden among young adults. However, the associations of suicidal ideation with help-seeking anxiety, psychological distress, and subjective well-being among healthcare students have not been explored sufficiently. This study aimed to examine the cross-sectional associations of help-seeking anxiety, psychological distress, and subjective well-being with suicidal ideation among first-year healthcare students.
Methods: A cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted among 142 first-year medical and nursing university students in Japan. Suicidal ideation was assessed using the Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire, psychological distress was assessed using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, subjective well-being was assessed using the World Health Organization 5-item Well-Being Index (WHO-5), and help-seeking anxiety was assessed using the Thoughts About Therapy Survey. Associations among help-seeking anxiety, psychological distress, subjective well-being, and suicidal ideation were examined using Spearman's correlation analysis and multivariable regression analyses.
Results: Higher help-seeking anxiety was associated with higher levels of suicidal ideation and psychological distress. Psychological distress was also associated with suicidal ideation, whereas subjective well-being was not clearly associated with suicidal ideation. In the multivariable regression analyses, help-seeking anxiety remained associated with suicidal ideation after accounting for psychological distress and subjective well-being. Additionally, most students reported having someone to consult when experiencing distress; however, awareness of university mental health services was limited.
Conclusion: These findings highlight suicidal ideation as a clinically meaningful psychological burden among first-year healthcare students and suggest that psychological distress and help-seeking anxiety are associated with suicidal ideation.
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
京公网安备 11010802042870号
