Utilization of Social Support Center on Depression and Suicidal Ideation among Undergraduates in a Tertiary Institution, Benin City

Abstract

Background: Social support consists of a network of people drawn from the community members that promote mental health wellbeing, as inadequate social support gives rise to various mental illnesses such as depression and this has a negative influence on the life of students which can increases the risk of suicidal ideation. Aim: This study aims to access the utilization of social support among undergraduate students residing in halls of residence at University of Benin. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional non-experimental research design was used for the study. A total of 380 participants was employed using convenient sampling and a self-structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and hypothesis were tested using ANOVA, ANCOVA, Independent T-test, and Multivariate logistic regression model at a 5% level of significance.. All the analyses were done using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. Results: Findings from this study showed that most 226(59.5%) of the respondents recorded a fair level of knowledge of social support on depression and suicidal ideation. The majority 266(70%) of the respondents had a good level of utilization of social support. Factors that promote the use of social support among undergraduates were nearness to residence (2.50 ± 0.90), availability of time (4.01 ± 0.31), awareness of social support centers (3.90 ± 0.52), free of cost/charges (3.90 ± 0.42), less time-consuming process (4.01 ± 0.21), and concern from family (2.72 ± 0.92). There was a statistically significant difference in the mean knowledge level based on the hall of residence of respondents (F = 6.033, p < 0.001). On the effect of the covariate “Level of respondent” on the outcome variable “Knowledge of social support”. The association between the class level of respondents and their knowledge of social support was not statistically significant (F1,7 = 0.576, p = 0.448), while the association between hall of residence and knowledge of social support was statistically significant (F6,7 = 6.121, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Although the level of utilization of social support services in the present study is encouraging there is a need for improvement as the level of knowledge is poor. Better knowledge of social support services can translate into good utilization among the students. The researchers, therefore, recommend that more sensitization, seminars, conferences, and workshops on the importance of social support services should be organized from time to time to update the students’ knowledge and create awareness on the various social support services available both physical and online.