Dataset Information

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

ACCESS DATA

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]

PMID: 36112162

Similar Datasets

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:BackgroundCommunity attitude towards mental health problems and help-seeking behavior plays a major role in designing effective community based mental health interventions. This study aimed to assess the attitude, help-seeking behavior, and associated factors of the Jimma zone community towards mental health and mental health problems.MethodsA community-based cross-sectional study design was employed. A respondent from each of the 423 systematically selected households was interviewed using a pretested, structured, and interviewer-administered questionnaire. Accordingly, a community's attitude towards mental health problems was measured by the adapted version of the "Community Attitude towards Mentally Ill questionnaire (CAMI)" and help-seeking behavior was measured by a general help-seeking questionnaire. Data were entered into Epi-data version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 23.0 for analysis. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis was done to determine the independent predictors of the outcome variable.ResultsAmong the total 420 study participants (197,46.9%) of them had an overall unfavorable attitude towards mental illness. The majority (153,36.4%) of the study participants agreed on avoidance of anyone who has mental health problems and (150,35.7%) participants described marrying a person with a mental health problem or recovered from the problem is foolishness. Moreover, regression analysis showed family monthly income (AOR = 0.24, 95%CI:0.06-0.91) and occupational status (AOR = 0.57, 95%CI:0.34-0.96) were found to be the predictors of community attitude towards mental health problems. The study finding also revealed a significant number of the respondents preferred non- medical treatment approaches.ConclusionAlmost half of the respondents had an unfavorable attitude towards mental health problems and the traditional and religious help-seeking intention was high. This suggests the need for designing effective community based mental health interventions to improve the general public attitude and help-seeking behavior towards mental health problems.

Project description:BackgroundAdolescence and early adulthood are critical periods for the development of mental disorders. Online peer-to-peer communication is popular among young people and may improve mental health by providing social support. Previous systematic reviews have targeted Internet support groups for adults with mental health problems, including depression. However, there have been no systematic reviews examining the effectiveness of online peer-to-peer support in improving the mental health of adolescents and young adults.ObjectiveThe aim of this review was to systematically identify available evidence for the effectiveness of online peer-to peer support for young people with mental health problems.MethodsThe PubMed, PsycInfo, and Cochrane databases were searched using keywords and Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms. Retrieved abstracts (n=3934) were double screened and coded. Studies were included if they (1) investigated an online peer-to-peer interaction, (2) the interaction discussed topics related to mental health, (3) the age range of the sample was between 12 to 25 years, and (4) the study evaluated the effectiveness of the peer-to-peer interaction.ResultsSix studies satisfied the inclusion criteria for the current review. The studies targeted a range of mental health problems including depression and anxiety (n=2), general psychological problems (n=1), eating disorders (n=1), and substance use (tobacco) (n=2). The majority of studies investigated Internet support groups (n=4), and the remaining studies focused on virtual reality chat sessions (n=2). In almost all studies (n=5), the peer support intervention was moderated by health professionals, researchers or consumers. Studies employed a range of study designs including randomized controlled trials (n=3), pre-post studies (n=2) and one randomized trial. Overall, two of the randomized controlled trials were associated with a significant positive outcome in comparison to the control group at post-intervention. In the remaining four studies, peer-to-peer support was not found to be effective.ConclusionsThis systematic review identified an overall lack of high-quality studies examining online peer-to-peer support for young people. Given that peer support is frequently used as an adjunct to Internet interventions for a variety of mental health conditions, there is an urgent need to determine the effectiveness of peer support alone as an active intervention.

Project description:ImportanceMental health issues among young people are increasingly concerning. Conventional psychological interventions face challenges, including limited staffing, time commitment, and low completion rates.ObjectiveTo evaluate the effect of a low-intensity online intervention on young people in Hong Kong experiencing moderate or greater mental distress.Design, setting, and participantsThis randomized clinical trial was conducted from May 12, 2022, to September 22, 2023, in Hong Kong. Participants (aged 12-30 years) were recruited from a community project, self-reported moderate to severe distress (Kessler Psychological Distress Scale score ≥5), and were randomized 1:1 to receive the low-intensity online intervention or self-help tips (waitlist group).InterventionThe low-intensity online intervention group received 4 weekly 1-on-1 online sessions on stress management, sleep, or problem-solving delivered by trained psychological well-being practitioners. The waitlist group received weekly mental health tips via text messaging.Main outcomes and measuresPrimary outcomes were changes in Kessler Psychological Distress Scale scores and depression and anxiety subscale scores of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale. Secondary outcomes included general stress, overall negative emotions, quality of life, sleep quality, resilience, and self-efficacy. The primary outcome analysis was based on intention to treat with the last observation carried forward approach. Sensitivity analyses were conducted using per-protocol and multiple imputation methods.ResultsOf 332 screened participants, 120 (mean [SD] age, 22.4 [3.4] years; 87 [72.5%] female) were randomized. From baseline to 4 weeks, the low-intensity online intervention group and the control group both saw reductions in scores for depression (mean [SD] difference, 6.0 [7.7] and 4.8 [7.9]; P = .17; ηp2 = 0.02), anxiety (mean [SD] difference, 6.0 [7.7] and 3.5 [7.7]; P = .07; ηp2 = 0.03), and psychological distress (mean [SD] difference, 3.8 [3.8] and 2.9 [3.8]; P = .24; ηp2 = 0.01), but none of these differences were statistically significant. However, the intervention group showed greater reductions in general stress (mean [SD] difference, 7.5 [7.2] vs 4.4 [7.2]; P = .02; ηp2 = 0.05), negative emotion (mean [SD] difference, 20.3 [19.2] vs 12.7 [19.2]; P = .03; ηp2 = 0.04), and increased resilience (mean [SD] difference, 0.5 [0.6] vs 0.2 [0.6]; P = .01; ηp2 = 0.05) compared with the waitlist group. Younger participants and those with lower initial distress experienced greater improvements. The findings were supported by the per-protocol analysis but not by multiple imputation analysis.Conclusions and relevanceA low-intensity online intervention did not significantly improve distress, depressive, or anxiety symptoms but showed some potential in reducing general stress and negative emotions and improving resilience. These findings are encouraging but not definitive, and caution is needed due to missing data. These data suggest that a low-intensity online intervention may offer a scalable option for youth mental health.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05510453.

Dataset Information

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

Purpose

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

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

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