ArticleBMC psychiatry2026
Help-seeking intentions, barriers and associated variables for depression and social anxiety among adolescents in Bermuda.
Article in BMC psychiatry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
backgroundGlobally, adolescents typically display low levels of help-seeking for their mental health problems. There is limited knowledge about the help-seeking intentions and barriers among adolescents in the Caribbean. The aim of this study was to investigate help-seeking intentions, barriers and associated variables for depression and social phobia (social anxiety) among adolescents in Bermuda.
methodsThis study involved a cross-sectional survey of middle-school and high-school students aged 10–19 years in Bermuda. Online surveys conducted between November 2022 - June 2023 gathered data on age, gender and race. In response to a randomly assigned vignette describing a peer as either experiencing depression or social anxiety, the survey assessed adolescents’ mental health-related help-seeking intentions, sources of help, barriers to professional help-seeking and help-seeking preferences.
resultsOf 2,434 adolescents who provided valid data, less than half indicated they would seek help for the problem described in the vignette. Reporting moderate to severe depression/anxiety symptoms, older age and female gender were all associated with lower intentions to seek help. The most commonly endorsed source of help was from a parent. Stigma was the most commonly endorsed barrier to professional help-seeking. Reporting moderate to severe depression/anxiety symptoms was associated with a higher likelihood of endorsing major barriers to professional help-seeking and the help-seeking preference of trying to deal with the problem in the vignette on their own.
conclusionsThis study is the first to comprehensively investigate help-seeking intentions and barriers for depression and social anxiety among adolescents in Bermuda. The low rates of help-seeking intentions among adolescents reporting moderate to severe depression/anxiety symptoms are concerning given the associated issues with delayed professional help-seeking. This study is limited in that it examined help-seeking intentions in relation to depression or social anxiety as described in a vignette. Further research is needed to understand associations with actual help-seeking behaviours for these disorders. Anti-stigma programs should be implemented for adolescents in schools to address barriers to professional help-seeking. Older adolescent females may stand the most to gain from these efforts. Early intervention and prevention programs among early adolescents are needed.
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