Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39010111›Full record

ArticleChild and adolescent psychiatry and mental health2024

Intentions and barriers to help-seeking in adolescents and young adults differing in depression severity: cross-sectional results from a school-based mental health project.

Sabrina Baldofski, Jelena Scheider, Elisabeth Kohls, Sarah-Lena Klemm, Julian Koenig, Stephanie Bauer, Markus Moessner, Michael Kaess, Heike Eschenbeck, Laya Lehner and 6 more

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Article in Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

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5citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

16 authors.

Sabrina Baldofski *Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany.
Jelena Scheider *Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany.
Elisabeth KohlsDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany.
Sarah-Lena KlemmDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany.
Julian KoenigDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
Stephanie BauerCentre for Psychosocial Medicine, Center for Psychotherapy Research, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
Markus MoessnerCentre for Psychosocial Medicine, Center for Psychotherapy Research, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
Michael KaessUniversity Hospital of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Heike EschenbeckDepartment of Psychology, University of Education Schwäbisch Gmünd, Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany.
Laya LehnerDepartment of Psychology, University of Education Schwäbisch Gmünd, Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany.
Katja BeckerDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty of the Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
Jennifer KrämerDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty of the Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
Silke DiestelkampGerman Center for Addiction Research in Childhood and Adolescence, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Rainer ThomasiusGerman Center for Addiction Research in Childhood and Adolescence, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Christine Rummel-KlugeDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany. Christine.Rummel-Kluge@medizin.uni-leipzig.de.
ProHEAD Consortium

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMental health problems, such as depression, have a high prevalence in young people. However, the majority of youths suffering from depression do not seek professional help. This study aimed to compare help-seeking behavior, intentions and perceived barriers between youthswith different levels of depressive symptoms.

methodsThis cross-sectional study is part of a large-scale, multi-center project. Participants were n = 9509 youths who were recruited in German schools and completed a baseline screening questionnaire. Based on their depressive symptoms, youths were allocated to the following three subgroups: (a) without depressive symptoms, (b) with subclinical symptoms, (c) with clinical symptoms (measured by PHQ-A). Quantitative analyses compared previous help-seeking behavior, help-seeking intentions and perceived barriers (Barriers questionnaire) between these subgroups. An additional exploratory qualitative content analysis examined text answers on other perceived barriers to help-seeking.

resultsParticipants were mostly female (n = 5575, 58.6%) and 12 to 24 years old (M = 15.09, SD 2.37). Participants with different levels of depressive symptoms differed significantly in help-seeking behavior, intentions and perceived barriers. Specifically, participants with clinical depressive symptoms reported more previous help-seeking, but lower intentions to seek help compared to participants without symptoms (all p < 0.05). Participants with subclinical depressive symptoms reported a similar frequency of previous help-seeking, but higher intentions to seek help compared to participants without symptoms (all p < 0.05). Perception of barriers was different across subgroups: participants with clinical and subclinical depressive symptoms perceived the majority of barriers such as stigma, difficulties in accessibility, and family-related barriers as more relevant than participants without depressive symptoms. Across all subgroups, participants frequently mentioned intrapersonal reasons, a high need for autonomy, and a lack of mental health literacy as barriers to help-seeking.

conclusionsYouths with higher levels of depressive symptoms are more reluctant to seek professional help and perceive higher barriers. This underlines the need for effective and low-threshold interventions to tackle barriers, increase help-seeking, and lower depressive symptoms in adolescents and young adults differing in depression severity.

trial registrationDRKS00014685.

Indexed as

AdolescentsBarriersDepressionHelp-seekingYoung adults

Identifiers

PMID39010111
PMCPMC11251315

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.