Campus Location
Dallas Campus (Online)
Date of Award
1-2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Department
Organizational Leadership
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Committee Chair or Primary Advisor
Dr. Jim J. Adams
Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor
Dr. B.J. McMichael
Third Committee Member or Committee Reader
Dr. Sara E. Salkil
Abstract
Mental health disorders are a significant health concern among higher education institutions in sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria. A substantial treatment gap exists in the Nigerian healthcare system, and this gap is further worsened by cultural and religious barriers, which reinforce stigma that discourages students from seeking professional help. This qualitative narrative inquiry explored the barriers students encountered when accessing mental health services at a university in Southwestern Nigeria, to increase service access. Qualitative semistructured interviews were conducted with seven professional mental health providers at a university counseling center between March and April 2025. Inductive thematic analysis was used to identify codes and themes related to access barriers. Eight themes associated with barriers to accessing mental health services were found: perceived barriers; social and cultural factors; peer, family, and societal perceptions toward help seeking; stigma and confidentiality; barriers faced by professional providers at work with students; university mental health policies; professional providers’ training; and strategies to increase use of campus counseling services.
Participants reported cultural practices and religious beliefs, as well as a fear of stigma, influenced students’ perceptions, such as viewing mental health conditions as supernatural or demonic influence, invariably impeding help-seeking. The findings suggest that sustainable mental health education and awareness efforts targeting both students and the broader university community may help reduce barriers to help-seeking and increase students’ use of university counseling services. Universities must design policies specifically tailored to address their mental health challenges.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Dada, Caroline, "Accessing Campus Mental Health Services in a Nigerian Southwestern University: Barriers to Academic Success" (2026). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 986.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/986
Included in
Community Health Commons, Community Psychology Commons, Counseling Commons, Counseling Psychology Commons, Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, Higher Education Administration Commons, Holistic Education Commons, Leadership Studies Commons, Multicultural Psychology Commons, Psychiatric and Mental Health Commons, Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy Commons, School Psychology Commons, Social Psychology and Interaction Commons, Sociology of Culture Commons, Sociology of Religion Commons, Student Counseling and Personnel Services Commons