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Autonomy versus support: self-reliance and help-seeking for mental health problems in young people.


ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Many young people with mental ill-health do not seek support, and developmental growth in self-reliance may be a barrier to help-seeking. Increasing autonomy is a positive developmental task for youth and a key aspect of resilience. This study examined the influence of perceived social support and resilience on the previously unexamined relationship between self-reliance and intentions to seek help from informal, professional, and self-help sources for mental health problems.

Methods

An online survey was completed by a representative Australian community sample of 5,203 young people aged 12-25 years (half female), in May-June 2020.

Results

Path analysis showed the hypothesised conceptual model did not fit the data well, but a modified model was a good fit. Higher self-reliance was associated with lower intentions to seek informal and professional help, as expected, but not with greater intentions for self-help. The relationship between self-reliance and informal help-seeking intentions was fully mediated by perceived social support, whereas the relationship between self-reliance and professional help-seeking was also direct. Perceived social support fully mediated the relationship between self-reliance and resilience. Intentions to use self-help were not influenced by variables in the study, but higher self-help intentions were associated with higher professional help-seeking intentions. Associations were consistent across age and gender groups.

Conclusion

The results show the critical role of social support for combating some of the unhelpful aspects of self-reliance for mental health help-seeking in young people. Future research should explore how self-reliance can hinder or be harnessed to facilitate accessing appropriate mental health.

SUBMITTER: Ishikawa A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9971084 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Autonomy versus support: self-reliance and help-seeking for mental health problems in young people.

Ishikawa Amelia A   Rickwood Debra D   Bariola Emily E   Bhullar Navjot N  

Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology 20220916 3


<h4>Purpose</h4>Many young people with mental ill-health do not seek support, and developmental growth in self-reliance may be a barrier to help-seeking. Increasing autonomy is a positive developmental task for youth and a key aspect of resilience. This study examined the influence of perceived social support and resilience on the previously unexamined relationship between self-reliance and intentions to seek help from informal, professional, and self-help sources for mental health problems.<h4>  ...[more]

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