Video gaming is a popular pastime for young males, having been shown to have both positive and negative effects on players' mental health. The aim of the current study was to ascertain the rate that male video gamers may seek mental health support for mental ill-health generally. The secondary aims were to (a) identify the most prolific barriers to seeking help; (b) determine how confident this group is to seek help; and (c) whether the variance in help-seeking efficacy be explained, in part, by age, hours gamed, self-esteem, and social capital. The survey included sections on demographic information, standardized measures of self-esteem (The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale), social capital (The Social Capital in Gaming Scale), help-seeking efficacy (Self-Efficacy to Seek Mental Health Care Scale), and non-standardized measures of help-seeking behavior and help-seeking barriers. The survey of 2,515 participants had a mean age of 21.37 years. The analysis identified that most participants had not sought mental health support for themselves. The most prolific barriers for this cohort to seek help were cost, confidentiality, and trust. Confidence to seek help was rated the lowest for overcoming embarrassment, understanding information, and coping with others' reactions. Help-seeking efficacy was found to be significantly predicted by age, hours spent gaming, self-esteem, and social capital. Low rates of seeking help, coupled with identifying the significant barriers of this group to seek help, may inform researchers aiming to develop targeted interventions for male youth interested in gaming and who are exhibiting mental ill-health to gain initial access, or engage more often, with mental health services when needed. Further research is recommended for investigating male gamers' insights in determining how to overcome the identified barriers for this cohort to improve mental health seeking behavior rather than avoidant behavior. From this, stigma reduction and ease of access to digital mental health services could be improved.

中文翻译：

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男性电子游戏玩家的心理健康求助行为：在线调查。

视频游戏是年轻男性的一种流行消遣方式，已被证明对玩家的心理健康有积极和消极的影响。本研究的目的是确定男性电子游戏玩家因心理健康问题而寻求心理健康支持的比例。次要目标是 (a) 找出寻求帮助时最常见的障碍；(b) 确定该群体寻求帮助的信心有多大；(c) 寻求帮助功效的差异是否可以部分由年龄、玩游戏的时间、自尊和社会资本来解释。该调查包括人口统计信息、自尊标准化测量（罗森伯格自尊量表）、社会资本（游戏中的社会资本量表）、寻求帮助功效（寻求心理健康保健自我效能量表）、寻求帮助行为和寻求帮助障碍的非标准化衡量标准。此次调查共有 2,515 名参与者，平均年龄为 21.37 岁。分析发现，大多数参与者没有为自己寻求心理健康支持。这群人寻求帮助的最大障碍是成本、保密性和信任。在克服尴尬、理解信息和应对他人反应方面，寻求帮助的信心被评为最低。研究发现，年龄、玩游戏的时间、自尊和社会资本可以显着预测寻求帮助的效果。寻求帮助的比率较低，再加上确定该群体寻求帮助的重大障碍，可能会为研究人员提供帮助，旨在为对游戏感兴趣且表现出心理健康状况不佳的男性青少年制定有针对性的干预措施，以获得初步帮助，或更频繁地参与，在需要时提供心理健康服务。建议进一步研究男性游戏玩家的见解，以确定如何克服该群体已发现的障碍，以改善心理健康寻求行为而不是回避行为。由此，可以改善耻辱感的减少和获得数字心理健康服务的便利性。