Empirical study on the influence of flipped classroom teaching mode on college students' professional help-seeking attitudes

Objective To explore the influence of flipped classroom teaching mode on college students' attitudes towards psychological help-seeking. Methods The small private online course and experiential teaching method were combined to teach the course of mental health. Before and after the course, the Attitudes toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale (Hao Zhihong 2007 Revision) and the Self-Stigma of Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale (Vogel et al.) were used to measure the professional help-seeking attitudes and self-stigma of 258 randomly selected subjects. SPSS 22.0 and paired sample t-test were used and related data were analyzed. Results A total of 242 valid scales were collected. The teaching mode of flipped classroom reduced self-stigma (t=2.067, P=0.040) and increased the willingness of professional psychological help-seeking among students (t=2.483, P=0.015). Before the course, there was no significant difference between the high-input group and the low-input group in the attitudes of help-seeking (t=0.515, P=0.607) and self-stigma (t=0.432, P=0.666). After the course, the scores of help-seeking attitudes in the high-input group were significantly higher than those in the low-input group (t=2.401, P=0.018), and the self-stigma scores in high-input group were significantly lower than those in low-input group (t=2.185, P=0.031). Conclusion The teaching mode of flipped classroom helps to reduce self-stigma evaluation and forms a more positive attitude towards seeking help. Attitudes changed significantly in those students who have higher commitment in knowledge learning, self-expression and self-reflection. Key words: Mental health; Flipped Classroom; Professional help-seeking attitude; Self-stigma; Course involvement