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PubMed2003

Men, masculinity, and the contexts of help seeking.

Research on men's help seeking yields strategies for enhancing men's use of mental and physical health resources. Analysis of the assumptions underlying existing theory and research also provides a context for evaluating the psychology of men and masculinity as an evolving area of social scientific inquiry. The authors identify several theoretical and methodological obstacles that limit understanding of the variable ways that men do or do not seek help from mental and physical health care professionals. A contextual framework is developed by exploring how the socialization and social construction of masculinities transact with social psychological processes common to a variety of potential help-seeking contexts. This approach begins to integrate the psychology of men and masculinity with theory and methodology from other disciplines and suggests innovative ways to facilitate adaptive help seeking.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Pathways to care for Alzheimer's disease among Korean Americans.

Little is known about how Korean Americans make decisions whether to seek help when, experiencing symptoms that might signal dementia. In Study 1, patient registry data for 60 Korean and 212 non-Korean Alzheimer's disease patients revealed that both groups waited 3-4 years before seeking help and sought help when memory decline was accompanied by other problems. Among Korean Americans, those living with family were more impaired than those living alone, suggesting greater, delay in seeking help. In Study 2, 109 Korean Americans ages 18-73 were surveyed concerning acculturation, knowledge, and help-seeking attitudes. Those more familiar with dementia symptoms indicated they would seek help, supporting the value of public education.

Acculturation↗
PubMed1998

Parental stress, psychosocial problems and responsiveness in help-seeking parents with small (2-45 months old) children.

Experienced parental stress in 75 mothers and 65 fathers seeking help for their young child (M = 14.5 months; SD = 9.4 months) in a Specialist Child Health Centre was examined and related to child problem load, psychosocial problems and parental problems in responding to the child's signals and demands. Maternal stress level was compared with a population-based sample of 1500 mothers with children of similar ages. The measure of parental stress was a revised Swedish version of the American Parenting Stress Index (Parent Domain). Mothers in the clinical sample indicated higher levels of parental stress compared to fathers in the same families and to mothers in the comparison sample. A clear association was found between higher stress and a global clinical assessment of parental unresponsiveness to the child. Child problem load was associated with mothers' overall stress level. A clinical estimate of the parents' psychosocial situation was also associated with mothers' and fathers' stress level, and gave a large unique contribution to the variability in mothers' stress scores. It was concluded that focus in intervention programs should be on the whole family, and that the father should be seen as a resource that might well be more involved in the caretaking of the child. The study also clearly demonstrated the discriminant and construct validity of the parental stress instrument.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Self-control skillfulness and caregiver burden among help-seeking elders.

Self-control skills are coping responses that help to organize one's own behavior and to manage cognitive and emotional responses that disrupt ongoing, adaptive behavior. The concept of self-control is applied to the chronically stressful caregiving experience. The present study examined the relationship between caregivers' role-specific burden and their self-control skillfulness. Forty-four caregivers of cognitively impaired spouses were assessed. Demographic characteristics, psychiatric symptomatology, role-specific burden, functional impairment of their spouse, and dispositional self-control skillfulness were measured. Highly skillful caregivers reported lower burden, fewer memory and behavior problems for their care recipient, and fewer psychiatric symptoms than less skilled caregivers. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that self-control skillfulness was associated with caregiver burden net the effects of covariates including age, education, memory and behavior problems of the care recipient, and caregivers' psychological distress. Results suggest that self-control skills may play an important role in caregiving and may help to explain why some caregivers adapt better than others to their role.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2002

Spouses' attributions for helping: the effects of styles of help-seeking, self-serving bias, and sex.

This paper examines the effects of (a) how clearly the desire for help is presented, (b) self-serving bias, and (c) sex differences on the source of the cause of helping happening (or not) that spouses attribute to a potential helper. In two studies, a total of 138 couples imagined situations in which a person wanted his or her spouse to do a chore. How clearly the desire for help was expressed, whether help was given, and whether it was the participant or the spouse who was expected to help were manipulated. The participants reported their attributions for the cause of helping (or not) to themselves and the spouse on visual analog scales. There was strong support for a proposed interaction between how clearly the desire for help was expressed and whether help was given in predicting spouses' attributions. No support was obtained for a predicted self-serving bias or for a suggestion that men make more self-enhancing attributions than women, the findings were instead congruent with a relationship-enhancing bias. The findings are discussed in terms of the context of housework.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Children's strategies and goals in response to help-giving and help-seeking tasks within a friendship.

The present research tested whether children's responses to help-giving and help-seeking friendship tasks predicted how many friends they had and the quality of their best friendship. Fifth-grade children (N=511; typically 10 or 11 years old) responded to vignettes in which they could either give help to a friend or seek help from a friend. Children's strategies and goals in both contexts were significantly correlated with the number of friends children had. Responses in the help-giving context but not in the help-seeking context were significantly associated with friendship quality. Although gender differences in strategies and goals were found, strategies and goals were related to the number of friends and friendship quality for both boys and girls.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1990

Coping and help-seeking in the UK adult population.

A large national sample of the UK adult population was surveyed to find out how respondents would cope and whom they would turn to for help if they experienced psychological problems. Overall, the most frequently endorsed coping methods were cognitive or behavioural rather than avoidance- or substance-based. Respondents tended to endorse informal rather than formal helpers, especially partners and close relatives, although the family doctor was given greater endorsement than in corresponding US studies. Individual differences in coping and help seeking were examined with respect to demographic variables and level of reported psychological symptoms. Respondents who reported higher levels of symptoms tended to endorse more coping methods, especially avoidance methods, and to show greater readiness to seek help. The implications of the findings for traditional clinical work and for mental health education and promotion are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2000

The nature of help-seeking during psychiatric emergency service visits by a patient and an accompanying adult.

Utilization rates for urban psychiatric emergency services remain high, and the decision to seek care in this setting is poorly understood. Three hundred individuals accompanying patients to a psychiatric emergency service were interviewed about their help seeking and choice of treatment setting. Twenty-three of the interviewees (7.7 percent) were caregivers accompanying patients with severe and persistent mental illness. They were significantly more likely than other interviewees to know the difference between psychiatric emergency services and services offered by other outpatient providers. More than half reported that the patient they accompanied was intermittently noncompliant, which required visiting either a walk-in service during a moment when the patient was cooperative or a facility equipped to provide involuntary treatment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Effect of an educational pamphlet on help-seeking attitudes for depression among British South Asian women.

South Asian women suffer disproportionately high rates of suicide and attempted suicide. Yet few intervention studies on this group have been done. A total of 180 British South Asian women were sampled to pilot test an educational pamphlet about depression and suicidality. After reading the pamphlet, significantly more women assessed themselves as willing to confide in their clinicians, friends, and spouses if they felt depressed or suicidal, rather than not telling anyone. Also, more women reported that they felt that antidepressants were helpful for depression after they read the pamphlet. These changes remained four to six weeks later. The pamphlet was feasible for use in primary care and community settings and highly acceptable among British South Asian women and professionals.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Help-seeking preference of college students in urban China after the implementation of the "open-door" policy.

A sample of 466 college students (228 males, 238 females) in urban China completed a questionnaire to indicate their help-seeking preferences with respect to 8 types of problem. The results indicated that our subjects, particularly male students, preferred to rely on their own in resolving their problems, although this self-reliant tendency was less obvious for problems of future employment and severe psychological distress. When help was sought, the tendency to rely on parents was found to be stronger among females than males. Male students were more likely than their female counterparts to seek help from friends and psychiatric consultation. Nevertheless, there was still great reluctance among the college students to use mental health services, particularly psychiatric consultation. Lack of credibility of the professionals was a barrier more negative than stigmatization which prevented students from seeking psychiatric consultation. Moral rather than psychosocial attribution of psychiatric illness was most predictive of the tendency to use mental health services. Findings inconsistent with those reported in other Chinese communities are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Help-seeking and social support in Japanese sojourners.

Research shows that social support is essential for healthy psychological functioning. Help seeking and social support are soc ial processes shaped by cultural understandings about how need should be expressed, to whom, and in what circumstances. This study used grounded theory methodology to examine how cultural factors regulate help seeking and social support in a sample of 25 Japanese sojourners' wives living in America. Culturally based social edicts such as mutual responsibility and in-group solidarity were found to promote help seeking and social support. In contrast, culturally specific factors such as enryo (polite deference) hierarchy, and the cultural rules governing reciprocity inhibited these behaviors. From these data, a cultural model of social exchange allowing for cultural diversity, is proposed. This model can increase the effectiveness of nursing interventions aimed at community-based health promotion.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

The role of significant life events in discriminating help-seeking among illicit drug users.

This paper examines the role of significant life events in distinguishing two samples of illicit drug users: 120 help-seekers (the "agency group") and 120 not seeking help (the "non-agency group"). We examined 10 life areas clustered around the general categories of "substance use," "social functioning," and "emotional and interpersonal functioning." A range of objective and self-reported information was collected regarding each life area covering the 12 months prior to interview. Analysis revealed that the agency group experienced a greater number of negatively perceived drug-related life events than the non-agency group. These life events were also more likely to have occurred in recent months, prompting reported "concern" and "need for help" among the agency group. Additionally, length of use of current primary drug was seen to be a contributory variable in distinguishing between the groups.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Who are the kids who self-harm? An Australian self-report school survey.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence and types of deliberate self-harm (DSH) in adolescents, and associated factors. DESIGN: A cross-sectional questionnaire study. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: 3757 of 4097 Year 10 and Year 11 students (91.7%) from 14 high schools on the Gold Coast, Queensland, during September 2002. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: DSH behaviour, including descriptions of the last act, psychological symptoms, recent stressors, coping styles, help-seeking behaviour, lifestyle choices, and self-prescribing of medications. RESULTS: 233 students (6.2%) met the criteria for DSH in the previous 12 months, with DSH more prevalent in females than males (OR, 7.5; 95% CI, 5.1-10.9). The main methods were self-cutting (138 respondents; 59.2%) and overdosing with medication (69 respondents; 29.6%). Factors associated with DSH included similar behaviours in friends or family, coping by self-blame, and self-prescribing of medications. Most self-harmers did not seek help before or after their most recent action, with those who did primarily consulting friends. CONCLUSIONS: DSH is common in Australian youth, especially in females. Preventive programs should encourage young people to consult health professionals in stressful situations.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2001

High school students' responses to dating aggression.

The purpose of this study was to identify high school students' actions in response to physical aggression in their dating relationships. The association of these actions with race/ethnicity and gender was also examined. From a sample of high school students (N = 476), a subsample who reported that they had experienced at least one episode of being victimized by physical aggression in a dating relationship (n = 183), served as the sample of interest. On average, students engaged in two help-seeking actions, with females reporting more actions than males. Overall, the most common responses to physical aggression in a dating relationship were aggressive action (e.g., fight back), informal help seeking, threatened or actual breakup, and doing nothing (males) or crying (females). Females were more likely to fight back than were males. Race was largely unrelated to students' actions. Intervention opportunities and areas for future research are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Phenomenology and neurobiology of social phobia: comparison with panic disorder.

Like panic disorder, social phobia is a common, frequently severe, anxiety disorder that can cause significant work and social impairment. Unlike panic disorder, social phobia has only recently begun to undergo neurobiologic study and to receive pharmacotherapeutic attention. There is a high comorbidity between social phobia and panic disorder; however, many differences exist--including age at onset, gender distribution, contextual framework of anxiety, help-seeking and help-avoidance behavior, quality of sleep and sleep patterns, caffeine and lactate sensitivity, and, most probably, pharmacologic responses. Social phobia can now be included among the growing number of anxiety disorders that respond to pharmacotherapy.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Children's reactions to the receipt of direct and indirect help.

First, third, and fifth graders' (N = 201) reactions to 2 types of aid (direct help [answers] and indirect help [hints]) commonly used by helpers to assist children were examined. The children were randomly assigned to receive either direct or indirect help on a task, and then were asked to try a similar task immediately and again a few days later. Direct help was expected to elicit dependency, whereas indirect help was expected to elicit independent reactions. Age and/or sociocognitive level were predicted to moderate the effects of help. Direct help resulted in feelings of threat, low perceived control, and high dependency help-seeking for girls, but not for boys. Boys who received indirect help and understood the notion of consistency of personality requested less dependent help than did boys with less of this sociocognitive skill. Moreover, children high in the understanding of consistency of personality were more autonomous (i.e., helped themselves more) in the indirect than in the direct help condition.

Child↗
PubMed1996

[Little recognition of mental problems in children by parents and family physicians].

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of psychic problems in children in the Dutch GP-practice and to determine how often parents and general practitioners (GPs) recognize psychic problems in children. DESIGN: Descriptive. SETTING: World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Primary Health Care (NIVEL) and Academic Hospital, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Utrecht, the Netherlands. METHOD: In 810 children presence or absence of emotional and behavioural problems was studied by means of the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) filled out by a parent at the moment of contact with a GP. The GPs findings in these were also recorded. RESULTS: 7.7% of all children obtained a total CBCL score indicating presence of emotional and behavioural problems (> P90). These children had problems at school, had repeated a school year, and followed special education more often. Nevertheless most of their parents (86%) did not experience problems with their children and 40% of the parents did not report any psychic problem in the preceding 2 weeks. Only 15% of these children were completely free of signs and symptoms, however, as against 40% of children with low scores. The percentages of children with high scores consulting a GP, social work or mental health care agency were somewhat higher than the percentages of children without these problems, but only the last-mentioned difference was significant. Children saw the GP rarely because of psychosocial problems (n = 7; less than 1%; 1 had a high CBCL score). Regardless of the presence of emotional and behavioural problems, as assessed by the CBCL, the GP seldom diagnosed psychological or social problems in children (n = 11; 1.4%; 2 had a high CBCL score) and rarely suspected the complaints had a psychosocial background. CONCLUSION: Children with a high CBCL score did not visit their GPs more often. The perception by the parent appears to be crucial in the help-seeking process. In many children in whom the screening instrument indicated the presence of emotional and behavioural problems, parents did not consider their children as problematic and did not seek the help of a GP.

Adolescent↗