Examining the Mediating Role of Self-Efficacy in the Relationship Between Shyness and Help-Seeking Behavior among College Students

Abstract

This study explored the mediating role of self-efficacy in the relationship between shyness and help-seeking behavior among Filipino college students. With mental health concerns rising in the Philippines, help-seeking behaviors are crucial in addressing issues like emotional distress, and suicidal ideation. A sample of 440 college students aged 18–30 from Metro Manila were surveyed to determine whether self-efficacy affects the likelihood of seeking help for personal/emotional problems and suicidal ideation. Three validated instruments– the McCroskey Shyness Scale, the General Help-Seeking Questionnaire, and the General Self-Efficacy Scale– were used through an online survey. The results indicated that self-efficacy was found to be an indirect pathway linking shyness and help-seeking behavior for suicidal ideation but did not have the same effect for personal/emotional problems. Also, shyness alone did not significantly predict help-seeking behavior for either problem. Furthermore, moderated mediation analyses showed that these pathways did not significantly differ by sex, although conditional effects suggested that mediating role of self-efficacy may be more pronounced among females. Our findings suggest that enhancing college students’ self-efficacy may improve help-seeking behaviors, particularly in serious mental health situations like suicidal ideation, and highlight the need for interventions addressing cultural and psychological barriers to help-seeking. Given the cross-sectional design of this study, the observed associations should not be interpreted as causal relationships.

Keywords

shyness self-efficacy help-seeking behavior suicidal ideation personal/emotional problems

The rise of mental health concerns in the Philippines is alarming; many individuals, including children, adolescents, and adults, are affected by psychological problems. As observed, we encountered some manifestations of mental health problems daily by seeing children with concerning behavior or atypical behavior, students with poor academic performances, adults with inappropriate behavior, and unhealthy coping mechanisms (eg, drinking problems, drug abuse, aggression). Professional help can determine the degree of mental health problems and provide appropriate treatment for individuals with the mentioned concerns. However, there are still a vast number of unreported cases of mental disorders and a rising amount of individuals who died by suicide, especially those individuals who were not able to receive help. This made the researchers realize the importance of promoting help-seeking behavior to reduce and ultimately cut the rise of mental health concerns in the Philippines. There is a gap between people reporting mental health concerns and the people seeking appropriate help. The researchers acknowledged the factors that could be seen as an influence to why people fail to seek the help they need. Shyness and self-efficacy can be seen as sources of influence on the ability of an individual to seek professional help. The researchers see these sources of influence as pivotal means of leveraging help-seeking among Filipinos by examining and promoting mental health and professional intervention.

Shyness is a temperamental trait related to new situations that people encounter (eg meeting new people) this trait is characterized by a moderate level of fear and behavioral inhibition; shyness can be seen in the light of being too self-conscious as well (eg being the center of attention); moreover, shyness is also related to an aspect of introversion and neuroticism.¹ Some considered shyness as commonly seen in children.² However, it is essential to understand that shyness also exists even in the elderly and the two age groups expressed “shyness” in a different manner. Handson³ found that “shyness” among young adults is much more straightforward than in older adults; shyness in older persons is related to instrumental situations, with an emphasis on their successful interaction with people viewed by them as coping resources. Furthermore, previous literature suggests that shyness may negatively affect different mental processes of individuals, leading to poor academic performance.⁴ Relative to the previous statement, Chrishti et al,⁵ found that shyness and academic achievement are significantly negatively correlated; thus, highlighted the need for nurturing the students’ shyness level.

In Geng et al,,⁶ shyness and depression were significantly and positively correlated as they concluded that shyness does increase the susceptibility of an individual to depression by reducing the sense of security and self-core evaluations.

According to,⁷ Help-seeking behavior (HSB) is the process of seeking assistance or help when experiencing great trouble or being in a very stressful situation; and there are two types of seeking help, (1) individuals may seek professional help (eg, mental health professionals, medical doctors, social workers); (2) and from trusted people within the community (eg, family, friends, neighbors). Similarly, help-seeking behavior is a healthy coping mechanism where individuals reach out for formal and informal support, information, and resources.⁸ Furthermore, an interesting qualitative synthesis by Doblyte and Jimenez-Mejiaz,,⁹ regarded depression and help-seeking as threats to the core identity of the individual; being aware of the symptoms and their interference with everyday life seems to pose a threat to the perceived central roles of a person; as cited in the same paper, help-seeking behavior is considered as an interruption to identity or unpleasant shift of personal identity. A more recent study proposed a model that could change an individual behavior toward help-seeking the model is called “P.L.A.C.E.S” that brings together the things that make treatment easier and combines them with another enjoyable and well-received intervention by most people, this showed a positive outcome to stress, depression, adolescents, and mothers who experienced postnatal depression.¹⁰ However, factors that lead to avoidance of treatment are still needed to explore.

Self-efficacy is generally defined as the belief in oneself to perform a given behavior, to organize and implement a set of actions to produce a desirable outcome.¹¹ Self-efficacy is also associated with several domains of mental health; one study showed general self-efficacy is significantly correlated with well-being thus, an increased level of general efficacy of an individual leads to improvement of mental health.⁴⁴ In contrast, self-efficacy when taken too far can impose a negative relationship with self-regulatory outcomes; this too-much self-efficacy is consistent with the too-much-of-a-good-thing principle.¹² Thus, having an optimal level of self-efficacy is beneficial to mental health.

Additionally, the link between shyness and self-efficacy had been explored by Murat,¹³ stating the moderately significant negative correlation among mentioned variables. Even more, self-efficacy for seeking assistance in mental health care suggested low confidence in the accessibility of mental health care whereas communicating with the health care professional showed high confidence; subsequently in the same study, barriers to care were reported differently across gender where women avoid treatment because they believed “they will not receive proper treatment”, on the other hand, the idea that the problem will get better on its own is often reported by males.⁷

This research was anchored on the self-efficacy theory by Maddux and Stanley.¹⁴ The theory emphasizes the two related expectancies that a person can hold with regard to their coping: (1) outcome expectancy, or whether the given behavior will lead to a specific outcome or not; and (2) a self-efficacy expectancy, regarded as the belief of a person with his or her capacity to either perform or cannot perform a certain behavior. Given the concept of this theory, the current study assumes that if having a poor outcome expectancy and self-efficacy expectancy can produce undesirable outcomes, then a help-seeking behavior is highly unlikely among individuals with poor expectancies regardless of the levels of their shyness trait.

This study aims to determine whether self-efficacy mediates the relationship between shyness and help-seeking behavior among Filipino college students aged 18–30 years; examine this mediation separately for two distinct outcomes: (a) help-seeking for personal/emotional problems, and (b) help-seeking for suicidal ideation; conduct data collection using standardized self-report measures administered via online surrey conducted from April 2023 to August 2023.

The Present Study

Our study examined the role of self-efficacy in the relationship between shyness and help-seeking behavior, we divided the help-seeking into two forms: personal/emotional help-seeking, and suicidal ideation help-seeking. Specifically, two hypotheses were tested: (1) self-efficacy mediates the relationship between shyness and help-seeking behavior for personal/emotional problems, and (2) self-efficacy mediates the relationship between shyness and help-seeking behavior for suicidal ideation (Figure 1).

Figure 1.

The Hypothesized Relationship of Self-Efficacy, Shyness, and Help-Seeking Behavior.

Methodology

Research Design

A quantitative research approach was employed in this study, specifically cross-sectional explanatory design. The collected data from participants at one specific time represents the relationships between self-efficacy, shyness, and help-seeking behavior. The explanatory aspect of this design highlights how these variables relate to one another and whether self-efficacy functions as a mediator between shyness and help-seeking intentions.¹⁵ Because of the cross-sectional nature of the study, the findings reflect correlational relationships rather than causal ones.

Participants

A non-probability convenience sampling approach was chosen due to the absence of a centralized list of college students and logistical constraints during online data collection. While this method limits generalizability, recruitment was conducted across multiple universities and colleges in Metro Manila, and efforts were made to reach a diversity of academic programs and year levels. Potential sampling bias toward more digitally connected students was acknowledged, and findings are interpreted within this limitation. Furthermore, to ensure that the gathered respondents were suitable to our research study we applied several criteria. The inclusion criteria are as follows: (1) college students must be currently enrolled in any colleges or universities in Metro Manila, (2) they must fall within the required age range (18-30 years old), and (3) provide informed consent to participate in the study. Subsequently, the exclusion criteria included in our study are those who had incomplete responses or standard deviation values lower than 0.25 in preliminary data screening, which reflected a non-engagement behavior on answering the survey items.

The researchers gathered a total of 516 college students. However, during preliminary analysis, data screening was applied, and the respondents with responses’ STDev lower than 0.25 were removed from the preliminary analysis. This exclusion criterion is commonly used in online survey research to identify and remove inattentive responses.¹⁶ Importantly, exclusions were made based on the pattern quality of the responses and not on any variable related to the study hypotheses, this ensures the integrity and representativeness of the final sample. The remaining sample is 440 respondents that are mainly composed of male and female college students with the age range of 18–30 years old. The final sample also exceeded the minimum number of required sample size based on the conducted sample size computation using G power (minimum sample required = 107 at 0.95 power and effect size of 0.15). Based on the sex assigned at birth, most respondents are females (n = 330, 75%), while 110 respondents (25%) are male. There were no missing responses for this variable. Regarding age, most respondents are in the youngest category (n = 318, 72.3%), followed by 83 respondents (18.9%) in the second age category, 31 respondents (7%) in the third category, and only eight respondents (1.8%) in the oldest category. The average age of the respondents is 1.38 (SD = 0.698), reflecting a concentration in the youngest age groups, specifically 18-20 years old.

Instrumentation

The online survey includes the adoption of three (3) open-access questionnaires on shyness, help-seeking behavior, and self-efficacy.

McCroskey Shyness Scale

The McCroskey Shyness Scale is a 14-item self-measured questionnaire and was developed to quantify the individual's shy behavior. In addition, the scale generates a high alpha reliability estimate (α ≥ .90) and has excellent face validity.¹⁷ In addition, the scale demonstrated a strong reliability with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.817 after item adjustments. The McCroskey shyness scale makes use of a 5-point Likert scale that ranges from 1 to 5 or from I strongly disagree to I strongly agree.

General Help-Seeking Questionnaire (GSHQ)

The General Help-Seeking Questionnaire (GSHQ) developed by Wilson and colleagues,¹⁸ was used to examine the individual's formal and informal help-seeking behavior for two problem types (personal/emotional problems, and suicidal ideation). The Scale generates a Cronbach alpha of .85, test-retest reliability measured over the course of three weeks, and generates a .92 result; the second part of the scale generates a Chronbach Alpha of α=.83, test-retest reliability.¹⁸ Lastly, a higher score indicates a higher help-seeking intentions.

General Self-Efficacy (GSE)

The General Self-efficacy is a 10-item self-report measurement aimed to measure self-efficacy has a Cronbach alpha ranging from .76 to .90 derived from 23 nations.¹⁹ Also, to improve reliability adjustments were made during data analysis.

Ethical Consideration

The researchers adhered to the ethical standard throughout the completion of the study by discussing informed consent, potential risks, benefits, confidentiality, and voluntary participation. We also provided detailed information about the purpose and importance of the study, respondents were assured of confidentiality and anonymity, no personal information was collected, and the college students had the liberty to withdraw from the study by canceling the survey link any time without penalty. Lastly, the study was voluntary, it is up to the respondents to decide whether or not to take part in our study. After the respondents sign the consent form, they are still free to withdraw without giving a reason. If they withdraw from the study before data collection is completed, the data given will be returned or destroyed.

Planned Analyses

Mediation analyses were conducted using Hayes’ PROCESS macro for SPSS (Model 4), which implements modern bootstrapping methods for indirect effect estimation.^20–22 Indirect effects were tested using 5000 bias-corrected bootstrap samples, with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) used to determine significance. All analyses controlled for potential multicollinearity, linearity, and homoscedasticity assumptions. Effect sizes (β) and explained variance (R²) are reported alongside p-values. This approach avoids the limitations of the traditional stepwise method²³ and provides more robust inferences about indirect effects. Prior to analysis, the assumptions for mediation were evaluated. All the mentioned variables were measured on continuous scales. Linearity was supported, as shown by significant correlations between the variables (Table 4). Multicollinearity was not a concern, as variance inflation factors (VIFs) were below 1.01 and tolerance values were above 0.99. Normality was assessed through skewness (−0.19 to 0.28) and kurtosis (−0.81 to 1.22) values, which were within the recommended ±2.00 range.^24,25 Shapiro-Wilk tests also supported approximate normality. Outlier diagnostics confirmed that no spurious outliers were present. Collectively, these results indicate that the assumptions for mediation analysis were adequately met. In addition, moderated mediation analyses were conducted using PROCESS Model 59 to examine whether sex moderated the indirect effects of shyness on help-seeking outcomes via self-efficacy. Conditional indirect effects and indices of moderated mediation were estimated using 5000 bootstrap samples with 95% Cis (Tables 6 & 7).

Data Analyses

According to Bishara & Hittner,²⁶ the Pearson correlation frequently offered higher power when data were just slightly skewed (one or both variables were Weibull). In other words, the Pearson correlation may tolerate small deviations from the norm. The benefit of establishing parametric assumptions might outweigh the cost of violations because the normalcy deviations were so small. With regard to Type I error rate, Pearson's r was generally robust to nonnormality, with the exception of particularly small sample sizes or particularly non normal distribution (see Table 1). Furthermore, de Winter, Gosling & Potter²⁷ found that Pearson r is suitable for light-tailed distributions. Moreover, all Cronbach's Alpha coefficients reported for all the standardized instruments in this study were calculated using data from the current sample of 440 Filipino college students. Previous reliability coefficients cited from earlier literature are provided only for context and comparison. Lastly, we decided to fix the reliability by removing necessary items. For the McCroskey Shyness Scale, items 10 (“I am outgoing in most situations”), 13 (“I do not hesitate to talk to strangers”), and 14 (“I am usually talkative in group discussions”) were excluded due to low corrected item-total correlations (< .30), indicating weak association with overall construct in this sample. For the GSHQ personal/emotional subscale, items 1, 2, 9, and 10 were removed for similar reasons, as they demonstrated low internal consistency. For the GSHQ suicidal ideation subscale, items 2 and 9 were also removed. For the GSE, items 1, 2, and 3 were excluded because of low item-total correlations and negative skew that suggested limited variability in responses. These removals improved Cronbach's alpha without altering the conceptual meaning of the remaining items (see Table 2).

Table 1.

Test of Normality.

Variables	Cronbach's Alpha	Skewness	Kurtosis	Kolgomorov-Smirnov	Shapiro-wilk
Shyness	0.795	0.282	1.140	0.075	0.982
Personal/Emotional Problem	0.694	0.195	−0.387	0.054	0.991
Suicidal Ideation	0.781	0.169	−0.644	0.060	0.982
Self-Efficacy	0.564	−0.190	1.218	0.075	0.977

Table 2.

Reliability Analysis for Shyness, Help-seeking Behavior, and Self-efficacy.

Variable	Items Removed	Cronbach's Alpha	Skewness	Kurtosis	Kolgomorov-Smirnov	Shapiro-Wilk
Shyness	10, 13, 14	0.817	0.212	0.598	0.086	0.989
Personal/Emotional Problems	1, 2, 9, 10	0.813	0.253	−0.584	0.059	0.000
Suicide Ideation	2, 9	0.845	0.141	−0.813	0.067	0.000
Self-Efficacy	1, 2, 3	0.598	−0.103	0.797	0.085	0.000

Results

We examined the mediating role of self-efficacy in the relationship between shyness and help-seeking behaviors, we also labeled two forms of help-seeking: (1) help seeking on personal/emotional problems, (2) help-seeking on suicidal ideation among Filipino college students. The results showed valuable insights into the dynamics between the above-mentioned variables revealing both significant and nonsignificant findings regarding the role of self-efficacy as the mediator (Table 4).

According to Bowker et al²⁸ social difficulties and depressive symptoms are present in individuals with high levels of shyness; in addition, shyness may prevent people from seeking advice when they face a challenging situation.²⁹ In contrast, the mean score for shyness among the respondents was 33.77 (SD = 6.62), indicating a moderate level of shyness. While moderate shyness might still be a barrier for seeking help, it may not completely inhibit the capacity of an individual to seek help (Table 3).

Table 3.

Descriptive Statistics for Shyness, Help Seeking Behavior, and Self-efficacy of College Students.

Variable	Mean	SD
Shyness	33.77	6.62	Moderate
Personal/Emotional Help Seeking Behavior	23.31	9.10	Low
Suicidal Ideation Help Seeking Behavior	27.37	11.45	Low
Self-Efficacy	18.46	3.45	Low

Moreover, when examining help-seeking intention, a slight difference between the mean score of personal/emotional help seeking and suicidal ideation was observed, but still considered as low level having a mean score of (M = 23.31, SD = 9.10) on personal or emotional problems and (M = 27.37, SD = 11.45) on suicidal ideation. This suggests that college students with low levels of help-seeking intention are likely to avoid seeking help especially when they experience personal or emotional problems. However, when they experience suicidal ideation there is a slightly higher likelihood that they will consider seeking a formal or informal help. Consequently, with low rates of help-seeking behavior, individuals may experience poorer mental health outcomes including prolonged mental health problems.¹⁰

Furthermore, the mean score of self-efficacy among respondents is 18.46 (SD = 3.45) indicating a low level of general self-efficacy. The result suggests that college students may experience hesitation or self-doubt in accomplishing their goals and this may also negatively influence their help seeking intention. The result emphasizes the importance of improving self-efficacy among college students, as higher self-efficacy has been shown to enhance help-seeking behavior and reduce suicidality.³⁰

A significant positive correlation was observed linking personal and emotional help-seeking behavior to suicidal ideation help-seeking behavior (r = 0.763, p < 0.01). This means that college students who tend to seek help for personal/emotional problems, are more likely to seek help when they experience suicidal ideation. However, despite the correlation, recent trends on mental health suggest that younger individuals with emotional or mental health difficulties still avoid seeking formal or informal help.^31,32

Additionally, self-efficacy was positively correlated with both personal/emotional help-seeking behavior (r = 0.103, p < 0.05) and suicidal ideation help seeking behavior (r = 0.134, p < 0.01), indicating that college students with higher levels of self-efficacy are expected to show help-seeking behavior when they experience personal or emotional difficulties or even suicidal ideation. On the other hand, previous research has reported interesting mixed results on the relationship between self-efficacy and help-seeking intention. Case in point, Judd et al,³³ revealed the negative correlation between self-efficacy and help-seeking behavior, suggesting people with lower self-efficacy are more inclined to seek help. In contrast, Andersson et al³⁴ reported that self-efficacy had no influence on an individual's help-seeking behavior, while Garland³⁵ identified self-efficacy as a predictor of help-seeking behavior.

However, no significant correlations were identified amid shyness and other variables, including personal/emotional help-seeking, and suicidal ideation help-seeking, and self-efficacy. This raises an interesting point considering the cultural belief in the Philippines that being shy or too shy can impact the way people reach out for help. Despite this thought, many studies have not identified “shyness” as a significant barrier to help-seeking behavior among Filipino respondents as found in the systematic review by Martinez et al³⁶ (Table 4).

Table 4.

Correlational Statistics for Shyness, Help Seeking Behavior, and Self-Efficacy.

Correlations
		1	2	3
Shyness	Pearson Correlation	–
Shyness	Sig. (2-tailed)	–
Personal/Emotional Problem	Pearson Correlation	−0.005	–
Personal/Emotional Problem	Sig. (2-tailed)	0.916	–
Suicidal Ideation	Pearson Correlation	−0.028	.763**	–
Suicidal Ideation	Sig. (2-tailed)	0.557	0.000	–
Self-Efficacy	Pearson Correlation	−0.041	.103*	.134**
Self-Efficacy	Sig. (2-tailed)	0.386	0.031	0.005

*p < 0.05, *p < 0.01.

Shyness and Personal/Emotional Help-Seeking Behavior (PEHSB)

The mediation analysis indicated that shyness did not significantly affect personal/emotional help-seeking behavior (B = 0.065, SE = 0.987, p = 0.987). Similarly, the indirect effect of self-efficacy on the relationship between shyness and PEHSB was non-significant (B = 0.2715, SE = 0.125, p = 0.102). The overall model was also non-significant (R²= 0.0171, F (2, 437)= 2.334, p < 0.0981), suggesting that neither shyness nor self-efficacy had a substantial impact on personal/emotional help-seeking behavior. This could imply that there are other variables that are more suitable in facilitating help-seeking behavior such as social support or perceived social support that is evident in the above-mentioned literature.

Shyness and Suicidal Ideation Help-Seeking Behavior (SIHSB)

In contrast, our findings showed that self-efficacy significantly mediated the relationship between shyness, suicidal ideation, and help-seeking behavior. The indirect effect of self-efficacy was significant (B = 0.4427, SE = 0.157, p = 0.005), signifying higher self-efficacy was related with greater help-seeking for suicide ideation. Conversely, the direct effect of shyness on SIHSB remained non-significant (B = -0.0082, SE = 0.634, p = 0.634). The overall model was significant (R²= 0.0185, F(2437) = 4.122, p < 0.0168), demonstrating the vital role of self-efficacy in facilitating help-seeking behavior for suicidal ideation among individuals with moderate levels of shyness (Table 5).

Table 5.

Mediation Analysis for Shyness, Help-Seeking Behavior, and Self-Efficacy.

		M (PEHSB)					Y (PEHSB)
Antecedent		B	SE	p	β		B	SE	p	β
X (Shyness)	a	−0.0215	0.0248	0.3865	0.0414	c'	0.0010	0.0655	0.9873	−0.0008
M (Self-Efficacy)		-	-	-	-	b	0.2715	0.1258	0.0315	0.1028
		R2 = 0.0017					R2 = 0.1771
		F(1438) = 0.7514, p = 0.3865					F(2437) = 2.3340, p < 0.0981
		M (PEHSB)					Y (SIHSB)
Antecedent		B	SE	p	β		B	SE	p	β
X (Shyness)	a	−0.0215	0.0248	0.3865	0.0414	c'	−0.0390	0.0820	0.6342	−0.0226
M (Self-Efficacy)		-	-	-	-	b	0.4427	0.1576	0.0052	0.1333
		R2 = 0.0017					R2 = 0.0185
		F(1438) = 0.7514, p = 0.3865					F(2437) = 4.1222, p < 0.0168

A moderated mediation model (PROCESS Model 59²⁰;) was tested to determine whether sex moderated the indirect effect of shyness on help-seeking for personal/emotional problems through self-efficacy. The overall model was significant, F(5, 434) = 3.81, p = .002, with an R² of .042, indicating that the predictors explained 4.2% of the variance in emotional problems.

Shyness was not a significant predictor of emotional problems, b = −0.29, SE = 0.29,

t = −1.02, p = .309, 95% CI [−0.86, 0.27]. Self-efficacy showed a marginal positive effect on emotional problems, b = 0.61, SE = 0.32, t = 1.94, p = .053, 95% CI [−0.01, 1.24], but this did not reach conventional significance. Sex was not a significant predictor of emotional problems, b = −3.79, SE = 8.70, t = −0.44, p = .664, 95% CI [−20.89, 13.32].

Importantly, neither the interaction between shyness and sex, b = 0.18, SE = 0.16, t = 1.11, p = .269, 95% CI [−0.14, 0.49], nor the interaction between self-efficacy and sex, b = −0.20, SE = 0.18, t = −1.14, p = .255, 95% CI [−0.55, 0.15], was significant. These results suggest that the mediation pathway from shyness to emotional problems through self-efficacy did not differ significantly between males and females (Table 6).

Table 6.

Moderated Mediation Analysis of Shyness, Self-Efficacy, and Help-Seeking Outcomes by Sex (N = 440).

Outcome 1: Emotional Problems.
Predictor	B	SE	95% CI		t	p
			LL	UL
Constant	33.66	15.46	3.28	64.04	2.18	.030
Shyness	−0.29	0.29	−0.86	0.27	−1.02	.309
Self-Efficacy	0.61	0.32	−0.01	1.24	1.94	.053
Sex	−3.79	8.70	−20.89	13.32	−0.44	.664
Shyness × Sex (Interaction)	0.18	0.16	−0.14	0.49	1.11	.269
Self-Efficacy × Sex (Interaction)	−0.20	0.18	−0.55	0.15	−1.14	.255

Note. R = .205, R² = .042, F(5, 434) = 3.81, p = .002. CI = confidence interval; LL = lower limit; UL = upper limit.

Table 7.

Moderated Mediation Analysis of Shyness, Self-Efficacy, and Help-Seeking Outcomes by Sex (N = 440).

Outcome 2: Suicidal Thoughts
Predictor	B	SE	95% CI		t	p
			LL	UL
Constant	45.72	18.22	9.91	81.52	2.51	.013
Shyness	−0.46	0.34	−1.13	0.20	−1.37	.172
Self-Efficacy	0.54	0.37	−0.20	1.27	1.43	.152
Sex	−13.11	10.26	−33.27	7.05	−1.28	.202
Shyness × Sex (Interaction)	0.27	0.19	−0.10	−.64	1.41	.158
Self-Efficacy × Sex (Interaction)	−0.07	0.21	−0.49	0.34	−0.35	.728

Note. R = .270, R² = .073, F(5, 434) = 6.80, p < .001. CI = confidence interval; LL = lower limit; UL = upper limit.

A second moderated mediation model was tested with suicidal thoughts as the outcome. The overall model was significant, F(5434) = 6.80, p < .001, with an R² of .073, indicating that the predictors accounted for 7.3% of the variance in suicidal thoughts.

Shyness did not significantly predict suicidal thoughts, b = −0.46, SE = 0.34, t = −1.37, p = 1.72, 95% CI [−1.13, 0.20]. Similarly, self-efficacy was not a significant predictor, b = 0.54, SE = 0.37, t = 1.43, p = .152, 95% CI [−0.20, 1.27]. Sex was also non-significant, b = −13.11, SE = 10.26, t = −1.28, p = .202 95% CI [−33.27, 7.05].

The interaction between shyness and sex was not significant, b = 0.27, SE = 0.19, t = 1.41, p = .158, 95% CI [−0.10, 0.64], and neither was the interaction between self-efficacy and sex, b = −0.07, SE = 0.21, t = −0.35, p = .728, 95% CI [−0.49, 0.34]. These results indicate that the mediation pathway from shyness to suicidal thoughts through self-efficacy did not significantly differ by sex.

Discussion

The findings revealed that shyness did not have a significant direct effect on either personal/emotional help-seeking behavior or suicidal ideation help-seeking behavior. This potentially suggests that shyness alone may not be a key determinant for college students’ willingness to seek help. These implications challenge some current cultural beliefs that being shy can negatively influence people's behavior especially when they seek assistance. In contrast, culture might be a potential factor in explaining the mixed results on shyness and help-seeking behavior. Antover Tuliao³⁷ reviewed Filipino mental health and identified several barriers to help-seeking, with the cultural concept of hiya, often translated as shame or deep embarrassment, being particularly relevant to our study. In Filipino culture, hiya refers to a deeply ingrained sense of propriety that extends beyond momentary embarrassment. It functions as a personal reflection whether one's behavior may bring shame not only to oneself but also to one's family and community.³⁸ For example, a Filipino individual might not readily disclose personal suffering unless directly asked, out of hiya that such disclosure could disrupt harmony or cause family embarrassment.³⁹ This cultural factor creates significant barriers to mental health help-seeking, as individuals may prioritize social reputation and relational harmony over their own psychological needs.

Within the present findings, the role of self-efficacy as a mediator provides additional nuance: while shyness may suppress help-seeking by amplifying self-consciousness and social inhibition, higher self-efficacy could potentially buffer these cultural pressures. These findings suggest that shyness in the Filipino context cannot be fully understood apart from hiya, which continues to shape interpersonal interactions and help-seeking intentions.

Moreover, the analysis revealed that while self-efficacy did not significantly mediate the relationship between shyness and personal/emotional help-seeking behavior, it did play a significant mediating role in the relationship between shyness and suicidal ideation help-seeking behavior. This emphasized the vital role of self-efficacy in facilitating help-seeking behavior among college students when they face severe mental health problems like suicidal ideation. In a similar case, health related self-efficacy was found to be associated with suicidality.⁴⁰ This suggests that intervention that focuses on improving self-efficacy among college students may improve not only their mental health but their academic performance as well. For example the “Insect Feeding Game” intervention conducted in Taiwan during 2019 demonstrated that game participation led to improvements in self-efficacy among students. Improvement on self-efficacy was observed due to game participation among students, notable findings were found including: (1) the game's self-efficacy positively correlated with instrumental help-seeking behavior; (2) instrumental help-seeking behavior was significantly positively correlated with the intention to continue participation; (3) Executive help-seeking behavior was also significantly positively correlated with the intention to continue participating.

Furthermore, the significant mediation effect identified in the model of help-seeking behavior for suicidal ideation suggests that individuals with higher self-efficacy are more likely to seek assistance despite being shy. In other words, self-efficacy appears to counteract the negative impact that shyness may have on help-seeking intention when experiencing suicidal thoughts or ideation. This is in line with the theory that we used to explain self-efficacy. Maddux and Stanley's¹⁴ self-efficacy theory predicts that individuals who have low self-efficacy expectancy are less likely to engage in help-seeking behavior. While self-efficacy did not mediate the relationship on personal/emotional help-seeking behavior, this suggests that other factors may play a larger role in these situations. In other words, college students with personal/emotional problems might have different outcome expectancies to those with suicidal ideation. For example, their belief whether seeking for help will lead to a positive outcome is more likely to influence help-seeking behavior than self-efficacy. With that, outcome expectancy may play a stronger role for less severe conditions such as emotional challenges, while self-efficacy expectancy plays a critical role in suicidality.

In contrast, no significant mediating effect was found for personal/emotional help-seeking behavior. This suggests that self-efficacy may not be as vital when it comes to seeking help for emotional problems, which students may perceive as less overwhelming than suicidal ideation. Other factors such as social support and stigma were identified as having a more significant role in help-seeking behavior for personal/emotional issues.^41,42

In addition, we explored whether the mediation pathways differed by sex, despite the imbalance in representation across males and females. The moderated mediation analyses indicated that sex did not significantly moderate the indirect pathways from shyness to help-seeking outcomes through self-efficacy. Specifically, neither Shyness × Sex nor Self-efficacy × Sex interactions reached significance for personal/emotional problems or suicidal thoughts, and the indices of moderated mediation were nonsignificant, suggesting that the overall mediation model was broadly consistent across males and females.

Nevertheless, conditional indirect effects revealed a discrepancy across sex. The indirect effect of shyness on both help-seeking process (personal/emotional problems & suicidal thoughts) via self-efficacy was statistically significant among females but not among males. This suggests that while the general model applies to both groups, the mediating role of self-efficacy may be more pronounced among female respondents. This finding aligns with broader evidence that sex differences in suicidal thoughts and behaviors are complex and context dependent, with patterns varying across developmental stage, cultural background, and the specific outcome examined.⁴³ Given the unequal representation of sex in the sample (330 females; 110 males), and the cross-sectional design, these differences should be interpreted with caution. Future research using more balanced samples and longitudinal approaches could help clarify whether these patterns reflect genuine sex-based differences or sampling variability.

While these findings suggest potential pathways for enhancing help-seeking through self-efficacy interventions, the generalizability of these implications is limited to similar urban Filipino college populations. Therefore, recommendations should be considered preliminary until replicated in more diverse samples, including rural populations and non-student young adults.

Limitations and Future Directions

This study has several limitations including the use of cross-sectional design which limits causal inferences between shyness, self-efficacy, and help-seeking behavior. The directionality of effects may be bidirectional or influenced by unmeasured third variables. In addition, the internal consistency for the General Self-Efficacy Scale in this sample was lower (α = 0.598) than in most previous studies. This may reflect cultural differences in the interpretation of certain items, limited variability in responses, or measurement error. As a result, conclusions involving self-efficacy should be interpreted with caution, and future studies should consider culturally adapting and revalidating the scale for Filipino college populations. More so, the respondents were limited to Filipino college students, which may restrict generalizability of the findings to other populations. Furthermore, previous research has noted that introversion and related traits may have stronger associations with suicidal ideation in males than in females, our study was not powered to test sex differences in the mediation pathways. Future research should explore these associations in sex-stratified models to determine whether such patterns hold in Filipino college populations. There is also a likelihood that the participants might underreport or overreport their help-seeking behavior as a result of utilizing self-report measures. Qualitative methods can be also utilized to gain deeper insights into help-seeking behavior. Lastly, while our research focused on the mediating role of self-efficacy, future researchers should explore additional mediators such as perceived social support or stigma, to better understand what influences help-seeking behavior, especially in less severe conditions like personal or day-to-day emotional problems.

Conclusion

This study investigated the mediating role of self-efficacy in the relationship between shyness and help-seeking behavior among Filipino college students, emphasizing the call for effective mental health interventions among colleges and universities in the Philippines. The findings revealed that self-efficacy plays a vital role in encouraging help-seeking behavior for suicidal ideation; this indicates that individuals with higher self-efficacy have a higher likelihood of seeking support when they are having suicidal thoughts or ideation. However, we also found that self-efficacy did not mediate personal/emotional problems, which individuals may perceive as routine or lesser overwhelming than suicidal ideation, which may lead to a decreased intention to seek help. This highlights the need for caution in interpreting these findings as they challenge existing assumptions and may not align with widely held beliefs or previous research.

Additionally, the results suggest that shyness alone is not a significant barrier to help-seeking behavior, with self-efficacy emerging as a more influential factor in facilitating it, particularly for addressing suicidal ideation. These insights emphasize the importance of interventions enhancing individuals’ self-efficacy, which could increase the likelihood of seeking help in times of crisis. Also, addressing cultural factors, such as “hiya” (shame), is crucial to reduce the stigma around suicidality and to normalize the help-seeking behavior among college students. By fostering self-efficacy and cultural sensitivity, mental health programs can better equip students to seek support in times of crisis, contributing to improved mental health outcomes and suicide prevention efforts.

Lastly, given the cross-sectional nature of this study, we strongly suggest that future research must explore causal relationships, and investigate additional mediating variables such as stigma or social support. Also, expanding sample size that includes diverse populations could also improve the external validity of the findings. Although there are limitations, our findings contribute important insights into the psychological factors that influence help-seeking behavior, offering a foundation for targeted interventions in line with the cultural context of Filipino college students.

Footnotes

ORCID iDs

Lennon Andre Patricio

Christian Jasper Nicomedes

Jhaven Mañas

Jeremy Dela Torre

Ryan Francis O. Cayubit

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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