Background Mental health support has become an important priority for higher education institutions as universities are increasingly expected to provide psychologically safe, inclusive, and supportive environments. Although Mental Health Literacy (MHL) is widely recognized as essential for understanding and responding to mental health needs, limited research has examined how MHL is linked to institutional mental health support outcomes through organizational mechanisms. Purpose This study investigates the relationships among Mental Health Literacy, Enabling Themes (ET), Organizational Implementation Capacity (OIC), and four dimensions of university mental health support: Learn, Live, Work, and Support. Drawing on the University Mental Health Charter and implementation science perspectives, the study examines whether ET and OIC function as organizational pathways connecting MHL with perceived institutional support outcomes. Methods Using a cross-sectional survey design, data were collected from 220 lecturers, administrators, specialists, academic advisors, and professional staff across eight Vietnamese higher education institutions. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to examine direct and indirect relationships among the study variables. Findings The results show that MHL was positively associated with both ET and OIC. ET had significant positive effects on all four outcome domains and significantly mediated the relationships between MHL and Learn, Live, Work, and Support. In contrast, OIC did not demonstrate statistically significant direct or indirect effects. These findings suggest that enabling institutional conditions constitute the primary pathway through which MHL is associated with perceived mental health support outcomes. Implications The study extends MHL beyond an individual-level construct by situating it within an organizational implementation framework. The findings suggest that universities should move beyond awareness-raising initiatives and strengthen enabling institutional conditions that translate mental health knowledge into coordinated organizational action.
Nguyen et al. (Sat,) studied this question.