Introduction
Paramedics provide a vital yet demanding role as first responders to emergencies in the community. These high stress environments mean paramedics have an increased risk of developing mental health conditions such as depression, stress, and anxiety. Despite this increased risk, the stigma associated with seeking help for mental health has been identified as a barrier.
Purpose
Given it is crucial that paramedics seek professional help for their mental health, this study applied an extended Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to gain an understanding of what predicts paramedics' intention to seek professional help for mental health. It included stigma and current mental health status as additional predictor variables.
Method
Participants (N = 124, 69F and 55M) completed a survey which included measures of TPB constructs (i.e., past behaviour, attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control [PBC], and intention) as well as stigma (Stigma and Self-Stigma Scale [SASS]) and mental health (Depression, Anxiety, and Stress, Scale [DASS-21]).
Results
Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted with the dependent variable of intention to seek professional help for mental health. In accordance with the TPB, past behaviour was entered into step one (R2 = .228, p<.001); attitude, subjective norm and PBC were entered into step two (R2 = .224, p<.001); and stigma and mental health were entered into step three (R2 =.059, p<.001). The final model explained 51.1% of variance in intention (F (6, 109) = 18.9, p < .001). The significant predictors in the final model were past behaviour (β=.482), stigma (β= -.216), attitude (β=.190), and PBC (β=.210).
Conclusions
This study highlights stigma as a key barrier to paramedics seeking professional help for mental health. The stigma around this mental health help-seeking needs to be reduced within this population if paramedics are to maintain optimal mental health and continue to effectively serve the community.