Pop Psychology Content Consumption, Attitude towards Mental Health and Self-Diagnosis among Senior High School Students in a Private College

The increasing availability of pop psychology content on social media has raised questions about its relationship with adolescents’ attitudes towards mental health and self-diagnosis. This study examined pop psychology content consumption, attitudes towards mental health and self-diagnosis among senior high school students at a private college in Iloilo City. A quantitative, descriptive-correlational design was employed. Stratified random sampling yielded 285 respondents, comprising 152 Grade 11 and 133 Grade 12 students, who completed a validated, pilot-tested, researcher-developed questionnaire. Most respondents were female (72.6%), and smartphones were the predominant devices used (94.7%). The overall mean for pop psychology content consumption was 2.67 (SD = 0.73), with video-based material receiving the highest reported item score (M = 3.51, SD = 0.98). Attitudes towards mental health were highly positive (M = 4.22, SD = 0.62), while the mean self-diagnosis score was 2.66 (SD = 0.78). Content consumption showed weak positive correlations with attitudes towards mental health (Spearman’s rₛ = 0.343) and self-diagnosis (Pearson’s r = 0.294); both relationships were reported as statistically significant. These findings indicate associations between reported content consumption and the two outcomes, without establishing causality. Further research using additional data-collection methods could help clarify students’ interpretations of online mental health content.