Help-Seeking as Relational Risk Management Among Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander College Students in Hawaiʻi

Authors

  • Victor Kaufusi Brigham Young University, Hawaiʻi
  • Dr. Moleni Brigham Young University, Hawaiʻi
  • Julana Te'o Brigham Young University, Hawaiʻi
  • Sisilia Angilau Brigham Young University, Hawaiʻi

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55016/chs3nt89

Keywords:

Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Students, Help-Seeking, Relational Risk Management, Indigenous Epistemologies, Grounded Theory, Higher Education

Abstract

Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) college students navigate higher education within Indigenous worldviews that emphasize relational accountability, collective responsibility, and cultural dignity. Although existing research documents barriers to mental health service utilization among NHPI populations, less is known about how NHPI students actively navigate help-seeking within cultural, familial, and institutional contexts. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach, this study examined help-seeking processes among ten NHPI students enrolled at a faith-based university in Hawaiʻi. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews and analyzed using constant comparative methods. Findings revealed a core process conceptualized as help-seeking as relational risk management. Participants described enduring stress independently while continuously assessing cultural obligations, relational safety, and potential impacts on family relationships, identity, and dignity prior to seeking support. Help-seeking occurred selectively and relationally, most often through trusted faculty members, mentors, or peers, with formal institutional services accessed conditionally. An Indigenous conceptual framework grounded in participants’ narratives is presented to illustrate this cyclical and relational process. The findings challenge deficit-based interpretations of delayed help-seeking and highlight the importance of culturally grounded, relational approaches to student support in Indigenous-serving higher education institutions.

 

 

Author Biographies

  • Dr. Moleni, Brigham Young University, Hawaiʻi

    Kristina Moleni, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor and Social Work Program Director in the Faculty of Education & Social Work at Brigham Young University–Hawaiʻi. She brings a multicultural background in social work and focuses her teaching and research on supporting underrepresented students in higher education, especially Pacific Islander communities. Dr. Moleni’s work centers on student success, mental health, and culturally responsive practices in education.

  • Julana Te'o, Brigham Young University, Hawaiʻi

    Julana Teʻo is a social work student at Brigham Young University–Hawaiʻi and served as a research assistant on this study. Her academic interests include Indigenous wellbeing, culturally responsive practice, and student mental health.

  • Sisilia Angilau, Brigham Young University, Hawaiʻi

    Sisilia Angilau is a social work student at Brigham Young University–Hawaiʻi and contributed as a research assistant on this study. Her interests include Indigenous communities, relational practice, and culturally grounded approaches to social work.

References

Battiste, M., & Henderson, J. S. Y. (2000). Protecting Indigenous knowledge and heritage. Purich Publishing.

Cajete, G. (2000). Native science: Natural laws of interdependence. Clear Light Publishers.

Charmaz, K. (2014). Constructing grounded theory (2nd ed.). Sage Publications.

Cutrer-Parraga, E. A., Allen, G. E. K., Miller, E. E., Garrett, M. F., Conklin, H., Franklin, C. N., Norton, A., Hee, C., & Coffey, B. K. (2024). Perceptions and barriers about mental health services among Pacific Islanders: An interpretative phenomenological analysis. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 71(2), 89–103. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000719

Foliaki, S. (1997). Migration and mental health: The Tongan experience. International Journal of Mental Health, 26(3), 36–54. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207411.1997.11449408

Freitas, J. M., Miyamoto, R. E., Malepeai, M., Harris, C., Khaddouma, A., & Kaholokula, J. K. (2024). Ka Malu a Waʻahila: Cultivating cultural safety for Native Hawaiian students in university behavioral health. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 51, 268–273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnu.2024.06.007

Greenall, R. F., de Alba, J. G., Nichols, S., Allen, G. E. K., & Bailey, E. G. (2023). Intersecting identities: A look at how ethnic identity interacts with science identity in Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 22(4), 1–17.

https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.23-01-0010

Haring, R. C. (2010). Bridging research to practice: Native American stories of becoming smoke-free. Journal of Indigenous Voices in Social Work, 1(1), 1–18. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/12527

Hart, M. A. (2002). Seeking mino-pimatisiwin: An Aboriginal approach to helping. Fernwood Publishing.

Hart, M. A. (2010). Indigenous worldviews, knowledge, and research: The development of an Indigenous research paradigm. Journal of Indigenous Voices in Social Work, 1(1), 1–16. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/12527

Kaʻili, T. O. (2008). Tauhi vā: Nurturing Tongan sociospatial ties in Maui and beyond. The Contemporary Pacific, 17(1), 83-114. https://doi.org/10.1353/cp.2005.0017

Kirmayer, L. J., Brass, G. M., & Tait, C. L. (2000). The mental health of Aboriginal peoples: Transformations of identity and community. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 45(7), 607–616. https://doi.org/10.1177/070674370004500702

Kovach, M. (2005). Emerging from the margins: Indigenous methodologies. In L. Brown & S. Strega (Eds.), Research as resistance: Critical, Indigenous, and anti-oppressive approaches (pp. 19–36). Canadian Scholars’ Press.

McCabe, M., Byrne, M., Gullifer, J., & Cornish, K. (2024). The relationship between university student help-seeking intentions and well-being outcomes. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 15, 1407689. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1407689

McLellan, K., Ganzorigta, N., Davaakhuu, K., & Spencer, N. (2025). Predictors of life satisfaction in Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander college students. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 22(2), Article 164. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22020164

Pointon-Haas, J., Waqar, L., Upsher, R., Foster, J., Byrom, N., & Oates, J. (2024). A systematic review of peer support interventions for student mental health and well-being in higher education. BJPsych Open, 10(1), Article e12. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2023.603

Rao, K. A., Gang, G. C. C. A., & Ading, C. (2025). Cultural differences in psychological help-seeking attitudes among Asian and non-Asian university students in Malaysia. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, 9(4), 3510–3522. https://doi.org/10.47772/ijriss.2025.90400256

Reddy, V., Lee, D. H., & Siqueiros, M. (2022). The state of higher education for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Californians. Campaign for College Opportunity. https://e1.nmcdn.io/assets/cco/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/5.30-FINAL-SHE-AANHPI-WEB.pdf

Sabado-Liwag, M. D., Pike, J. R., Zamora, M., Garcia, C., Soakai, L., Lutu, G., Palmer, P. H., El-Toukhy, S., & Kwan, P. P. (2025). Mental health self-stigma moderates the effect of social support on depression, anxiety, and stress among young adult Pacific Islanders. SSM – Mental Health, 8, Article 100471. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmmh.2025.100471

Sakiz, H., & Jencius, M. (2024). Inclusive mental health support for international students: Unveiling delivery components in higher education. Global Mental Health, 11, e8. https://doi.org/10.1017/gmh.2024.1

Smith, L. T. (1999). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and Indigenous peoples. Zed Books.

Taira, B. W., & Maunakea, S. P. (2022). ʻAʻohe pau ka ʻike i ka hālau hoʻokahi: Insights for learning with community and place. Language Arts, 99(6), 380–389. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27318272

United States Census Bureau. (2024, March 26). Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander heritage month: May 2024.

https://www.census.gov/newsroom/facts-for-features/2024/asian-american-pacific-islander.html

Wilson, S. (2008). Research is ceremony: Indigenous research methods. Fernwood Publishing.

Zhao, R., Amanvermez, Y., Pei, J., Castro-Ramirez, F., Rapsey, C., Garcia, C., Ebert, D. D., Haro, J. M., Fodor, L. A., David, O. A., Rankin, O., Chua, S. N., Martínez, V., Bruffaerts, R., Kessler, R. C., & Cuijpers, P. (2025). Research review: Help-seeking intentions, behaviors, and barriers in college students—A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 66(9), 1593–1605. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.14145

Downloads

Published

2026-07-19

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 2 (2026)

Section

Articles