Abstract
Background
Adolescent mental illness is of increasing concern, with prevalence increasing especially in females in the United Kingdom. While service-related barriers can deter help-seeking, the role of family support and engagement in family activities, and attitudes towards seeking help from a doctor has received little attention. Studies exploring help-seeking from family and medical practitioners have done so without incorporating theories of behaviour change. This study aims to develop a model of adolescent help-seeking using the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB).
Method
A cross-sectional survey of 1639 male and females aged 13–17 years in Northern Ireland. Structural Equation Modelling determined fit for TBP factors, with the addition of gender, experience of mental health issues, and engagement in family activities.
Results
The Structural Equation Model suggests an adequate description of the relationships between TPB variables [χ2(639) = 8302.36, p
Conclusions
When supporting adolescent’s gender, engagement with family and trust in doctors should be considered, especially where they have experienced mental health issues and may be less willing to seek help.
Adolescent mental illness is of increasing concern, with prevalence increasing especially in females in the United Kingdom. While service-related barriers can deter help-seeking, the role of family support and engagement in family activities, and attitudes towards seeking help from a doctor has received little attention. Studies exploring help-seeking from family and medical practitioners have done so without incorporating theories of behaviour change. This study aims to develop a model of adolescent help-seeking using the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB).
Method
A cross-sectional survey of 1639 male and females aged 13–17 years in Northern Ireland. Structural Equation Modelling determined fit for TBP factors, with the addition of gender, experience of mental health issues, and engagement in family activities.
Results
The Structural Equation Model suggests an adequate description of the relationships between TPB variables [χ2(639) = 8302.36, p
Conclusions
When supporting adolescent’s gender, engagement with family and trust in doctors should be considered, especially where they have experienced mental health issues and may be less willing to seek help.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 522-535 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Child Care in Practice |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Early online date | 20 May 2021 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2022 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Child Care in Practice Group.Keywords
- Mental health
- general practitioners
- help-seeking
- self-harm
- suicide
Access to Document
- Adolescent mental health help-seeking from family and doctors: applying the theory of planned behaviour to the Northern Ireland schools and wellbeing study
Copyright 2021 the authors. This is an open access article published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits distribution and reproduction for non-commercial purposes, provided the author and source are cited.