Abstract:

Adolescent mental health has emerged as a major public health priority, particularly amid the rapid expansion of digital communication platforms. Within this context, mental health literacy and help-seeking behaviors are recognized as essential components for the early identification and appropriate management of psychological difficulties. This study aimed to explore the relative contributions of school-related psychosocial factors and patterns of social media use to mental health literacy and help-seeking behaviors among Thai adolescents.
A cross-sectional survey was conducted involving 128 secondary school students in Thailand (mean age = 16 years). Participants completed a structured questionnaire covering daily social media engagement, mental health literacy, readiness to seek professional or informal help, stigma-related perceptions, and perceived support within the school environment. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and multiple linear regression models.
Overall levels of mental health literacy were found to be moderate to high (mean = 3.99, SD = 0.83). Participants also reported a high degree of readiness to seek help (mean = 4.18, SD = 0.75) and generally favorable attitudes toward stigma reduction (mean = 4.06, SD = 1.12). No statistically significant relationship was observed between the amount of daily social media use and mental health literacy (p = 0.69). In contrast, multivariable regression analysis demonstrated that perceived school support was independently associated with higher mental health literacy scores (β = 0.28, p = 0.002), whereas social media use did not show a meaningful predictive effect.
These findings suggest that, among Thai adolescents, mental health literacy is shaped more strongly by the quality of the school psychosocial environment than by the intensity of social media use. Strengthening school-based mental health support systems and fostering psychologically safe educational settings may therefore play a critical role in promoting early help-seeking and improving adolescent mental health outcomes.