PhD Viva Voce

Mr. Emanuel Daudi is a Ph.D. candidate (by Thesis) in the Department of Educational Psychology and Curriculum Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam, School of Education. He holds a Master of Arts in Applied Social Psychology and a Bachelor of Education in Psychology from the University of Dar es Salaam. He is an Assistant Lecturer in Counselling and Social Psychology in the Department of Educational Psychology and Curriculum Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam. He teaches several courses, including Theoretical Perspective to Counselling, Practical Orientation to Counselling, Theory and Practice in Counselling, Counselling Practicum, Educational Guidance and Counselling, Social Psychology, Human Development, and Educational Psychology, among others. As a pragmatist, Emmanuel subscribes to quantitative and qualitative research approaches. His areas of interest are children's social-emotional development, adolescent mental health, counselling psychology, and social psychology. Emmanuel has actively participated in several research projects. The notable ones included Implementation Research on the Satellite and INSET Models for Improved Equitable Access and Quality Early Learning in Tanzania 2019-2021, Access to Pre-primary Education for Children with Disabilities 2020, Social Emotional Development of Out of School Children 2019, Primary School Students Academic Performance in Tanzania 2018, Preschool and Primary school children learning of 3Rs 2018.

Abstract

The existing literature indicates that the utilization of psychological help among university students across country contexts, including Tanzania is generally low. The present study examined the socio-cognitive predictors of help-seeking intentions and help-seeking behaviour for psycho-social problems among university students in Tanzania. The socio-cognitive predictors were attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control. Five objectives informed the study. First, it examined the university students’ attitudes toward seeking psychological help. Second, it assessed the university students’ subjective norms toward seeking psychological help. Third, it examined the university students perceived behavioural control toward seeking psychological help. Fourth, it determined the extent to which students’ attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control predict their help-seeking intentions. Fifth, it examined the extent to which students’ attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control predict their help-seeking behaviour. The pragmatism philosophy informed the study, whereby mixed method research and concurrent embedded design were used. Data were collected from 740 university students using a questionnaire and focus group discussions. Purposive, stratified purposive, and convenience sampling procedures were used to select the units for the study. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse quantitative data, and thematic analysis was used to analyse qualitative data. The findings showed that most students had positive attitudes, positive subjective norms, and high perceived behavioural control toward seeking psychological help for psycho-social problems. The qualitative findings revealed that students had positive attitudes because of the perceived benefits of psychological help, perceived competence of help service providers, and perceived confidentiality in help settings. They also had positive subjective norms because of their perception that their significant others were aware that; psychological help could solve problems, psychological help was available and accessible, and help settings were confidential. Additionally, they had high perceived behavioural control because of the availability and accessibility of psychological help, social support, and time availability. Furthermore, the multiple regression analysis results indicated that all three socio-cognitive variables significantly predicted help-seeking intentions for psycho-social problems. In particular, attitude was the strongest predictor (β = .34, p < .001), followed by perceived behavioural control (β = 23, p < .001) and subjective norms (β =.08, p = .027). Moreover, the results from logistic regression revealed that only perceived behavioural control and attitude significantly predicted help-seeking behaviour in regard to psycho-social problems, with perceived behavioural control being the strongest predictor (AOR (95% CI) = 4.7 (2.56-8.75), p < .001) followed by attitude (AOR (95% CI) = 2.9 (1.47-5.52), p = .002). The study concludes that the socio-cognitive predictors are useful in understanding help-seeking intentions and help-seeking behaviour for psycho-social problems among university students in Tanzania and other countries with similar systems to Tanzanian universities. The study recommends that measures that increase university students’ help-seeking intentions and help-seeking behaviour should be implemented. The implications and recommendations for policy, action, and future research are also provided.