Intentions and barriers to help-seeking in adolescents and young adults differing in depression severity: cross-sectional results from a school-based mental health project

Autor: Sabrina Baldofski, Jelena Scheider, Elisabeth Kohls, Sarah-Lena Klemm, Julian Koenig, Stephanie Bauer, Markus Moessner, Michael Kaess, Heike Eschenbeck, Laya Lehner, Katja Becker, Jennifer Krämer, Silke Diestelkamp, Rainer Thomasius, Christine Rummel-Kluge, the ProHEAD Consortium
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, Vol 18, Iss 1, Pp 1-13 (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1753-2000
DOI: 10.1186/s13034-024-00775-3
Popis: Abstract Background Mental health problems, such as depression, have a high prevalence in young people. However, the majority of youths suffering from depression do not seek professional help. This study aimed to compare help-seeking behavior, intentions and perceived barriers between youthswith different levels of depressive symptoms. Methods This cross-sectional study is part of a large-scale, multi-center project. Participants were n = 9509 youths who were recruited in German schools and completed a baseline screening questionnaire. Based on their depressive symptoms, youths were allocated to the following three subgroups: (a) without depressive symptoms, (b) with subclinical symptoms, (c) with clinical symptoms (measured by PHQ-A). Quantitative analyses compared previous help-seeking behavior, help-seeking intentions and perceived barriers (Barriers questionnaire) between these subgroups. An additional exploratory qualitative content analysis examined text answers on other perceived barriers to help-seeking. Results Participants were mostly female (n = 5575, 58.6%) and 12 to 24 years old (M = 15.09, SD 2.37). Participants with different levels of depressive symptoms differed significantly in help-seeking behavior, intentions and perceived barriers. Specifically, participants with clinical depressive symptoms reported more previous help-seeking, but lower intentions to seek help compared to participants without symptoms (all p
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
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