Predictors of help-seeking behaviour in people with mental health problems: a 3-year prospective community study

• Main Authors: Carolin M. Doll, Chantal Michel, Marlene Rosen, Naweed Osman, Benno G. Schimmelmann, Frauke Schultze-Lutter
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2021-09-01
• Series: BMC Psychiatry
• Subjects: Help-seeking; Mental health problems; Longitudinal; Stigma; Structural equation model
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-021-03435-4

Abstract Background The majority of people with mental illness do not seek help at all or only with significant delay. To reduce help-seeking barriers for people with mental illness, it is therefore important to understand factors predicting help-seeking. Thus, we prospectively examined potential predictors of help-seeking behaviour among people with mental health problems (N = 307) over 3 years. Methods Of the participants of a 3-year follow-up of a larger community study (response rate: 66.4%), data of 307 (56.6%) persons with any mental health problems (age-at-baseline: 16–40 years) entered a structural equation model of the influence of help-seeking, stigma, help-seeking attitudes, functional impairments, age and sex at baseline on subsequent help-seeking for mental health problems. Results Functional impairment at baseline was the strongest predictor of follow-up help-seeking in the model. Help-seeking at baseline was the second-strongest predictor of subsequent help-seeking, which was less likely when help-seeking for mental health problems was assumed to be embarrassing. Personal and perceived stigma, and help-seeking intentions had no direct effect on help-seeking. Conclusions With only 22.5% of persons with mental health problems seeking any help for these, there was a clear treatment gap. Functional deficits were the strongest mediator of help-seeking, indicating that help is only sought when mental health problems have become more severe. Earlier help-seeking seemed to be mostly impeded by anticipated stigma towards help-seeking for mental health problems. Thus, factors or beliefs conveying such anticipated stigma should be studied longitudinally in more detail to be able to establish low-threshold services in future.