Dataset Information

Help-seeking behaviors among Chinese people with mental disorders: a cross-sectional study.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Failure to seek treatment for mental health disorders is a serious public health concern. Unfortunately, there is little insight into help-seeking and its associated factors in China which has undergone rapid economic development in the past 30?years and has an increasing prevalence of mental disorder. Therefore, this study aimed to (1) investigate help-seeking rates in healthcare and non-healthcare settings and (2) investigate the correlates of help-seeking behavior in a large Chinese survey. METHODS:Data came from the Tianjin Mental Health Survey (TJMHS), a representative sample of adult community residents in the Chinese municipality of Tianjin (n?=?11,748). Of these, 1759 individuals had ?1 axis-I diagnosis according to the Diagnostic and Statistical manual- fourth edition (DSM-IV) and were administered a Help-Seeking Questionnaire. RESULTS:15.7% of patients reported that they had ever sought help during their entire lifetime before the interview, with 4.5% seeking help in mental healthcare, 3.2% in other healthcare and 8.1% in non-healthcare settings (e.g., family, friends, and spiritual advisor). Among help-seekers, the first help was mostly sought in non-healthcare settings (58.4%), followed by healthcare (27.5%) and mental healthcare settings (24.5%). Female gender, younger age, having 7-9?years vs 0-6?years of education, a low income, a psychotic disorder and having ?2 disorders were associated with increased help-seeking. Older age, being married and having a psychotic or organic disorder were associated with increased help-seeking in healthcare vs. non-healthcare settings. CONCLUSION:A small percentage of persons with mental disorders in the Tianjin region seek help and among those who do, variations in the types of help-seeking may be partially explained by demographic and clinical characteristics.

SUBMITTER: Yin H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6883558 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Help-seeking behaviors among Chinese people with mental disorders: a cross-sectional study.

Yin Huifang H Wardenaar Klaas J KJ Xu Guangming G Tian Hongjun H Schoevers Robert A RA

BMC psychiatry 20191129 1

<h4>Background</h4>Failure to seek treatment for mental health disorders is a serious public health concern. Unfortunately, there is little insight into help-seeking and its associated factors in China which has undergone rapid economic development in the past 30 years and has an increasing prevalence of mental disorder. Therefore, this study aimed to (1) investigate help-seeking rates in healthcare and non-healthcare settings and (2) investigate the correlates of help-seeking behavior in a larg ...[more]

PMID: 31783825

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Project description:BackgroundYoung people are particularly vulnerable to experiencing mental health difficulties, but very few seek treatment or help during this time. Online help-seeking may offer an additional domain where young people can seek aid for mental health difficulties, yet our current understanding of how young people seek help online is limited.ObjectiveThis was an exploratory study which aimed to investigate the online help-seeking behaviors and preferences of young people.MethodsThis study made use of an anonymous online survey. Young people aged 18-25, living in Ireland, were recruited through social media ads on Twitter and Facebook and participated in the survey.ResultsA total of 1308 respondents completed the survey. Many of the respondents (80.66%; 1055/1308) indicated that they would use their mobile phone to look online for help for a personal or emotional concern. When looking for help online, 82.57% (1080/1308) of participants made use of an Internet search, while 57.03% (746/1308) made use of a health website. When asked about their satisfaction with these resources, 36.94% (399/1080) indicated that they were satisfied or very satisfied with an Internet search while 49.33% (368/746) indicated that they were satisfied or very satisfied with a health website. When asked about credibility, health websites were found to be the most trustworthy, with 39.45% (516/1308) indicating that they found them to be trustworthy or very trustworthy. Most of the respondents (82.95%; 1085/1308) indicated that a health service logo was an important indicator of credibility, as was an endorsement by schools and colleges (54.97%; 719/1308). Important facilitators of online help-seeking included the anonymity and confidentiality offered by the Internet, with 80% (1046/1308) of the sample indicating that it influenced their decision a lot or quite a lot. A noted barrier was being uncertain whether information on an online resource was reliable, with 55.96% (732/1308) of the respondents indicating that this influenced their decision a lot or quite a lot.ConclusionsFindings from this survey suggest that young people are engaging with web-based mental health resources to assist them with their mental health concerns. However, levels of satisfaction with the available resources vary. Young people are engaging in strategies to assign credibility to web-based resources, however, uncertainty around their reliability is a significant barrier to online help-seeking.

Project description:ObjectiveStigma towards people with mental health problems is a growing issue across the world, to which healthcare providers might contribute. The aim of the present study was to explore psychiatrists' attitudes towards their patients and link them to psychosocial and professional factors.MethodsAn online questionnaire was used to approach the in- and outpatient psychiatric services across Hungary. A total of 211 trainees and specialists in adult and child psychiatry participated in our study. Their overall stigmatizing attitudes were measured, with focus on attitude, disclosure and help-seeking, and social distance dimensions by using the self-report Opening Minds Stigma Scale for Health Care Providers (OMS-HC). Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to elucidate the dimensions of stigma and its association with sociodemographic, professional and personal traits.ResultsStigmatizing attitudes of close colleagues towards patients were statistically significant predictors of higher scores on the attitude [B = 0.235 (0.168-0.858), p = 0.004], the disclosure and help-seeking subscales [B = 0.169 (0.038-0.908), p = 0.033], and the total score of the OMS-HC [B = 0.191 (0.188-1.843), p = 0.016]. Psychiatrists who had already sought help for their own problems had lower scores on the disclosure and help-seeking subscale [B = 0.202 (0.248-1.925), p = 0.011]. The overall stigmatizing attitude was predicted by the openness to participate in case discussion, supervision or Balint groups [B = 0.166 (0.178-5.886), p = 0.037] besides the more favorable attitudes of their psychiatrist colleagues [B = 0.191 (0.188-1.843), p = 0.016].ConclusionsThe favorable attitudes of psychiatrists are associated with their own experiences with any kind of psychiatric condition, previous help-seeking behavior and the opportunity to work together with fellow psychiatrists, whose attitudes are less stigmatizing. The perception of fellow colleagues' attitudes towards patients and the openness to case discussion, supervision and Balint groups were the main two factors that affected the overall attitudes towards patients; therefore, these should be considered when tailoring anti-stigma interventions for psychiatrists.

Project description:AimsThe mental health of sexual minority (SM) individuals remains overlooked and understudied in Czechia. We aimed to estimate (1) the prevalence rate and (2) the relative risk of common mental disorders and (3) the mental distress severity among the Czech SM people compared with the heterosexual population. In addition, we aimed to investigate help-seeking for mental disorders in SM people.MethodsWe used data from a cross-sectional, nationally representative survey of Czech community-dwelling adults, consisting of 3063 respondents (response rate = 58.62%). We used the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview to assess the presence of mental disorders. In individuals scoring positively, we established help-seeking in the past 12 months. We assessed symptom severity using the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire and the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale. We computed the prevalence of mental disorders and the treatment gap with 95% confidence intervals. To assess the risk of having a mental disorder, we used binary logistic regression.ResultsWe demonstrated that the prevalence of current mental disorders was 18.85% (17.43-20.28), 52.27% (36.91-67.63), 33.33% (19.5-47.17) and 25.93% (13.85-38) in heterosexual, gay or lesbian, bisexual and more sexually diverse individuals, respectively. Suicidal thoughts and behaviours were present in 5.73% (4.88-6.57), 25.00% (11.68-38.32), 22.92% (10.58-35.25) and 11.11% (2.45-19.77) of heterosexual, gay or lesbian, bisexual and more sexually diverse individuals, respectively. After confounder adjustment, gay or lesbian individuals were more likely to have at least one current mental disorder compared with heterosexual counterparts (odds ratio = 3.51; 1.83-6.76). For bisexual and sexually more diverse individuals, the results were consistent with a null effect (1.85; 0.96-3.45 and 0.89; 0.42-1.73). The mean depression symptom severity was 2.96 (2.81-3.11) in heterosexual people and 4.68 (2.95-6.42), 7.12 (5.07-9.18) and 5.17 (3.38-6.95) in gay or lesbian, bisexual and more sexually diverse individuals, respectively. The mean anxiety symptom severity was 1.97 (1.85-2.08) in heterosexual people and 3.5 (1.98-5.02), 4.63 (3.05-6.2) and 3.7 (2.29-5.11) in gay or lesbian, bisexual and more sexually diverse individuals, respectively. We demonstrated broadly consistent levels of treatment gap in heterosexual and SM individuals scoring positively for at least one current mental disorder (82.91%; 79.5-85.96 vs. 81.13%; 68.03-90.56).ConclusionsWe provide evidence that SM people in Czechia have substantially worse mental health outcomes than their heterosexual counterparts. Systemic changes are imperative to provide not only better and more sensitive care to SM individuals but also to address structural stigma contributing to these health disparities.

Project description:Suicidal thoughts are common among young people presenting to face-to-face and online mental health services. The early detection and rapid response to these suicidal thoughts and other suicidal behaviors is a priority for suicide prevention and early intervention efforts internationally. Establishing how best to use new and emerging technologies to facilitate person-centered systematic assessment and early intervention for suicidality is crucial to these efforts.The aim of this study was to examine the use of a suicidality escalation protocol to respond to suicidality among help-seeking young people.A total of 232 young people in the age range of 16-25 years were recruited from either a primary mental health care service or online in the community. Each young person used the Synergy Online System and completed an initial clinical assessment online before their face-to-face or online clinical appointment. A suicidality escalation protocol was used to identify and respond to current and previous suicidal thoughts and behaviors.A total of 153 young people (66%, 153/232) reported some degree of suicidality and were provided with a real-time alert online. Further levels of escalation (email or phone contact and clinical review) were initiated for the 35 young people (15%, 35/232) reporting high suicidality. Higher levels of psychological distress (P<.001) and a current alcohol or substance use problem (P=.02) predicted any level of suicidality compared with no suicidality. Furthermore, predictors of high suicidality compared with low suicidality were higher levels of psychological distress (P=.01), psychosis-like symptoms in the last 12 months (P=.01), a previous mental health problem (P=.01), and a history of suicide planning or attempts (P=.001).This study demonstrates the use of new and emerging technologies to facilitate the systematic assessment and detection of help-seeking young people presenting with suicidality. This protocol empowered the young person by suggesting pathways to care that were based on their current needs. The protocol also enabled an appropriate and timely response from service providers for young people reporting high suicidality that was associated with additional comorbid issues, including psychosis-like symptoms, and a history of suicide plans and attempts.

Dataset Information

Help-seeking behaviors among Chinese people with mental disorders: a cross-sectional study.

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Help-seeking behaviors among Chinese people with mental disorders: a cross-sectional study.

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