Mental Health Messaging in Public Health Campaigns on Young Adults’ Psychological Wellbeing and Help Seeking Behaviour
Mental health disorders constitute a major public health challenge among young adults, yet help-seeking remains suboptimal due to stigma, poor mental health literacy, and limited awareness of available support services. This study investigated the effect of mental health messaging in public health campaigns on young adults’ psychological well-being and help-seeking behaviour, while examining the moderating role of gender. A mixed-methods pretest-posttest design was employed among 120 young adults who were recruited and completed the pretest assessment. Of these, 114 participants completed the posttest assessment, representing a retention rate of 95% and an attrition rate of 5%. Quantitative data were collected using the 12-Item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and the General Help-Seeking Questionnaire (GHSQ), while qualitative data were analysed thematically. Exposure to mental health messaging increased substantially following the intervention. Significant improvements were observed in psychological well-being and help-seeking intention from pretest to posttest. Exposure to mental health messaging was positively associated with psychological well-being (ρ = .440, p < .001) and help-seeking intention (ρ = .703, p < .001). Regression analyses revealed that exposure significantly predicted psychological well-being (B = 0.244, p < .001) and help-seeking intention (B = 0.856, p < .001). Furthermore, gender significantly moderated the relationship between exposure and psychological well-being (B = 0.280, p < .001), indicating stronger intervention effects among female participants. Qualitative findings demonstrated that mental health messaging enhanced awareness, reduced perceived stigma, fostered emotional validation, and increased willingness to seek professional support. The findings provide robust evidence that strategically designed mental health communication campaigns can improve psychological well-being and strengthen help-seeking intentions among young adults. Integrating gender-responsive messaging into public health interventions may enhance campaign effectiveness and contribute to improved mental health outcomes in this vulnerable population.