Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40928181›Full record

SynthesisThe International journal of social psychiatry2026

Barriers and Facilitators of Psychological Help-Seeking of People With Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Symptoms Among ASEAN Countries: A Systematic Review.

Diany U Syafitri, Shofia Mawaddah, Jennifer Y F Lau, June S L Brown

Abstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in The International journal of social psychiatry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Diany U SyafitriDepartment of Psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK.ORCID 0009-0002-3706-4967
Shofia MawaddahDepartment of Psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-4782-2103
Jennifer Y F LauCentre for Psychiatry and Mental Health, Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary University of London, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-8220-3618
June S L BrownDepartment of Psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDespite growing rates of common mental health disorders among country members of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN), there continue to be treatment gaps in these countries.

aimTo systematically identify and synthesise barriers and facilitators to accessing formal psychological help for common mental health disorders in the existing literature.

methodsAPA PsycINFO, Web of Science, Scopus, and the Indonesian Portal Garuda were searched for studies reporting barriers or facilitators to individuals' engaging in formal psychological help-seeking for common mental health disorders in country members of ASEAN. Participants in the studies were aged 18 years and above and included both quantitative and qualitative designs. Results were reported using PRISMA guidelines. Due to the heterogeneity of data and study designs, a narrative synthesis was chosen as an analysis strategy.

resultsThis review included forty-six studies. The barriers to formal psychological help-seeking were (1) social and cultural factors, which comprised of stigma, sociocultural and religious, and treatment-related issues, (2) personal factors, such as low mental health knowledge, self-reliance and disclosure difficulty, and (3) structural factors related to the low availability and affordability of mental health services. The facilitators were (1) social and cultural factors related to social and religious aspects, (2) personal factors comprising personal motivation, the presence and severity of mental health problems, and mental health literacy, and (3) structural factors such as accessibility and the system of mental health services, as well as gender differences.

conclusionsSocial, cultural, personal, and structural factors are essential for formal help-seeking in ASEAN. Future studies and intervention development might examine these factors further.

Indexed as

AnxietyDepressionHealth Services AccessibilityHelp-Seeking BehaviorMental Health ServicesPatient Acceptance of Health CareStress, PsychologicalAsia, SoutheasternHumansSocial Stigmacommon mental disorderformal psychological helphelp-seekingmental healthSoutheast Asia

Identifiers

PMID40928181
PMCPMC13121814

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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.