Influence of Compounded Social Stigma and Mental Health on Mental Health Help-Seeking Attitude as Mediated by Coping Strategies and Mental Health Awareness: Basis for a Program Dissertation Instruments Pilot Testing Data Analysis Outputs

Abstract

Achieving research quality and contributing to the body of knowledge is a hallmark of credibility and dependability of research instruments used by scholars. Subsequently, conducting a pilot study to obtain the validity and reliability of the study data gathering instruments is indispensable. This is even more crucial when considering mental health challenges that affect the lives and academics of university and college students. Therefore, to determine the trustworthiness of the proposed dissertation research study instruments, the pilot study was conducted. Cronbach’s alpha method of data analysis was used in scale reliability computations. The descriptive statistics helped in describing the preliminary pilot study outcomes. Thus, the findings revealed that the conceptualized elements meet the acceptable threshold of internal consistency. This indicates that proposed instruments have the capacity to measure the compounded social stigma, mental health, coping strategies, mental health awareness, and mental health help-seeking attitude of university undergraduate students. Hence, it was concluded that the instruments can be utilized in the dissertation study to achieve the study objectives.