The “Silent Help-Seeking” in Academic Burnout Constructing a Cognitive Model of University Students' Counseling Behavior

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to construct and validate a cognitive theoretical model explaining the "silent help-seeking" phenomenon among university students experiencing academic burnout, investigating how different burnout dimensions influence psychological help-seeking behavior through cognitive mediation pathways.

Methods: A secondary data analysis approach integrated 34 high-quality datasets from international mental health databases, yielding 28,456 university students aged 18-25 years. The research employed structural equation modeling to test relationships between academic burnout dimensions (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, reduced personal accomplishment), cognitive factors from Theory of Planned Behavior (attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, help-seeking self-efficacy), and help-seeking behaviors. Multi-group invariance testing validated cross-cultural applicability across different demographic groups.

Results: The final cognitive model achieved excellent fit indices (CFI = 0.956, TLI = 0.948, RMSEA = 0.052, SRMR = 0.041) and explained 58% of variance in help-seeking intention. Silent help-seeking behavior was identified in 40.0% of participants, categorized into four subtypes: emotional avoidance (30.0%), cognitive conflict (26.0%), social barrier (24.0%), and efficacy deficit (20.0%). Emotional exhaustion demonstrated the strongest total indirect effect on help-seeking intention (β = -0.351, 95% CI: -0.382, -0.320), while help-seeking self-efficacy emerged as the most powerful predictor (β = 0.34, p < 0.001). Help-seeking intention predicted silent help-seeking behavior (β = 0.67) more strongly than actual help-seeking behavior (β = 0.45).

Conclusions: This research advances theoretical understanding of psychological help-seeking by introducing the silent help-seeking concept and demonstrating differentiated cognitive pathways through which academic burnout influences help-seeking decisions. The validated model provides empirical foundation for developing precision interventions and transforming university mental health services toward proactive identification systems.