Awareness and Mental Health Literacy Testing Whether Awareness Translates into Literacy among Postgraduate Students across Five Disciplines

Abstract

Mental health is an important aspect of students’ well-being, particularly during postgraduate education, when academic demands, career expectations, and personal challenges may affect psychological health. This study explored the relationship between mental health awareness and mental health literacy among 170 postgraduate students from five academic disciplines at Kurukshetra University. A cross-sectional survey design was adopted and students were selected through convenience sampling from Botany, Law, Pharmacy, Business Administration, and Social Work. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation. The findings indicated that 49.4% of participants had average awareness, 34.7% had low awareness, and 15.9% had high awareness. Regarding literacy, 77.1% demonstrated moderate levels while 22.9% fell within the low category. Correlation analysis showed a weak, negative, and statistically non-significant association between awareness and literacy (r = -.063, p = .412). The findings suggest that awareness alone may not translate into mental health literacy. However, the results should be interpreted cautiously because of the cross-sectional design, convenience sampling, and single university setting. Further research may clarify how students develop practical mental health understanding and help-seeking abilities.