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Results for “Help-Seeking Behavior”

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PubMed1990

Help-seeking for AIDS-related concerns: a comparison of gay men with various HIV diagnoses.

Examined help-seeking and psychological distress among four groups of gay men (30 AIDS-diagnosed, 107 HIV-seropositive, 149 HIV-seronegative, 244 untested) in the AIDS Behavioral Research Project, a longitudinal survey of San Francisco gay men. The men reported high levels of anxiety, depression, and help-seeking from their social networks. AIDS-diagnosed and HIV-positives reported the most AIDS worry and were the most likely to seek help. High percentages of AIDS-diagnosed men sought help from all sources (peers, professionals, family), whereas nondiagnosed men were more likely to seek help from peers. Regardless of the men's HIV status, peers were perceived to be the most helpful source. Family members were less likely sought and perceived as least helpful. The strengths and limitations of peers as social support providers for AIDS-related concerns are discussed, including implications for the design of community programs to enhance the abilities of peer helpers.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

PubMed1992

Hypochondriasis and obsessive compulsive disorder.

Hypochondriasis and OCD differ conceptually in the degree to which the patient's disease concerns are experienced as an intrusive mental event or a reasonable psychological response to a realistic health threat, in the degree to which the ideation is resisted, and in the presence of somatic sensations and medical help-seeking. There are, however, some similarities between the conditions, including the development of excessive, stereotyped, repetitive behaviors in an attempt to allay their anxiety. Empirical data on the degree of overlap between the conditions are too limited to permit definitive conclusions. The little that we do know, however, suggests that (1) the prevalence of OCD in hypochondriasis is probably elevated, but not extraordinarily so; (2) the prevalence of hypochondriasis in OCD is unknown; (3) fears about disease, illness, and injury are one of the more common forms of obsessions seen in OCD; and (4) there are several ill-defined and largely unexplored conditions, such as disease phobias, which appear to be very similar to both OCD and hypochondriasis. Clinical experience suggests that there may be a subgroup of hypochondriacal patients who are closer to the anxiety disorders in general and to OCD in particular. This subgroup might respond to the newer, antiobsessional, serotonin reuptake blocking agents.

Adult↗

PubMed1990

Mental health attitudes and practices of Soviet immigrants.

A survey of mental health knowledge, attitudes and help-seeking practices was conducted with 415 Soviet immigrants to Israel. The purpose of the study was two-fold: to provide data for mental health services and outreach programs designed for this immigrant group and to obtain a "proxy window" into these attitudes and behaviors in the Soviet Union itself. The results show that almost 20% of the immigrants reported consultation to formal agents in Israel and about half of these reported similar consultation in the USSR. An almost equal proportion consulted the family. Univariate and multivariate analysis show that demoralization, marital status, and religiosity were significantly associated with help-seeking. The second part of the survey explored Soviet immigrant attitudes to mental illness and the mentally ill by means of case vignettes and social situations, respectively. The respondents were able to detect abnormal behavior, but did not label it as psychopathology. Their overall tolerance of such behavior was low. These attitudes did not change over time nor seem to be influenced by reported abuses of psychiatry in the USSR.

Adult↗

PubMed1991

Romance and help-seeking among college women: "it hurts so much to care".

Although previous research shows that adult women in intimate relations tend to enjoy better health than women without partners, this study finds the opposite tends to be true for late adolescent women. We followed a college entering class prospectively for 4 years and measured romantic involvement and various aspects of health and illness behavior in a questionnaire. Health service use was determined from the medical record, and disaggregated into distress and health maintenance visits, as well as visits expressly for psychological counseling. First year students who were romantically involved had more physical symptoms, more medical visits, but not more counseling visits, than non-involved women. At senior year, they continued to have more health maintenance, more counseling, but not more distress visits, and they tended to experience greater interference in social role performance due to illness when compared to non-involved women. When several mediators of the relationship between romantic involvement and health service use were controlled-number and intensity of physical symptoms, sexual activity, stress in the relationship, and social network characteristics--the differences persisted. Romance appears to motivate help-seeking among late adolescent women for reasons that are not easily explained empirically. Recent work on adolescent women's development offers theoretical leads that can guide future investigations.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1989

Help seeking and satisfaction with care in 641 women with eating disorders. I. Patterns of utilization, attributed change, and perceived efficacy of treatment.

Help-seeking patterns and satisfaction with care were described by 641 women with eating disorders participating in a national magazine survey. Between 60.6% and 92.9% of respondents in three diagnostic groups sought professional treatment. Professional treatments most often entered were individual psychotherapy (52.9%), behavioral therapy (28.0%), group therapy (24.6%), and nutritional therapy (18.6%). Treatments were generally seen as helping "a little." Only bulimic anorexia nervosa respondents perceived any interventions to be more harmful than helpful, specifically Overeaters Anonymous and self-help groups, both nonprofessional interventions. Caregivers selected as "experts" regarding eating disorders were rated as more efficacious than others, helping "a little" to "somewhat."

Anorexia Nervosa↗

PubMed1992

[The patterns of the health care seeking behavior and related factors in the schizophrenic patients].

Three hundreds schizophrenic out-patients, from 6 different socioculture background psychiatric facilities in Hunan were investigated by structured interview with definite schedule. The results show that after the recognition of the problem by decision maker, 45% subjects were delayed at least one month for help-seeking, 61.3% subjects first visited the non-psychiatric agencies, and 74.3% subjects has counselled with non-psychiatric doctors or healers at least one time, especially to the healer providing superstitious or religious therapy. The help-seeking styles mainly attributes to the lower socioeconomic status of the family, inconvenient referral to the psychiatric facilities, especially if the decision maker is a female, rural resided under-educated person knowing nothing of modern psychiatry. Based on these findings, the authors urge to improve scientific psychiatric care knowledge in population, develop the resource of mental health service to facilitate the radical change of help seeking behavior of the population.

Female↗

PubMed1990

Parental help-seeking for behavioural and emotional problems in childhood and adolescence.

Previous publications from the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Research Unit have reported the prevalence of DSM-III disorders through its longitudinal examination of a New Zealand birth cohort. The present study describes the help-seeking practices of each sample member's parents for their child's behavioural or emotional problems exhibited in childhood (ages 5-11) or adolescence (ages 12-15). Increased help-seeking for boys was evident in childhood. However, this sex difference was not present at adolescence. There was a decline in the frequency with which medically oriented agencies were contacted between childhood and adolescence, and teachers were found to be the most frequently used source of assistance in adolescence. Although there was a strong association between help-seeking and mental health disorder, approximately half of those with disorder had parents who had not sought help for their child's problems. In addition, family characteristics of low SES, low family social support and poorer maternal mental health predicted help-seeking. The results are discussed in terms of service provision for these age groups, within the present restructuring of the public health system in New Zealand.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1988

Client characteristics as determinants of intervention modality and therapy progress.

The relationship between client characteristics and assignment to family or individual therapy and therapy progress was examined in 131 child cases. Assignment to family therapy was related to help-seeking variables, suggesting that the recommendation followed a therapeutic rationale. History of prior services and client's race were both associated with levels of progress, with results indicating benefits from previous therapy but problems of "fit" between traditional mental health services and minority families.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Parallel process in the family medicine system: issues and challenges for resident training.

This article uses the concept of parallel process to examine resident training as one component in a system of interlocking relationships. Parallel process is defined, and its applicability to the dynamic exchange of help-seeking and help-giving behaviors which lies at the core of the health care system is examined. The concept of stages or phases in parallel process development next is explored. A relational model for optimal functioning between resident-patient and attending-resident is proposed, as well as an illustrative examination of one of the more problematic issues which a parallel process analysis can bring to light. Therapeutic interventions to enhance help-giving and help-seeking at different levels of the system are defined and analyzed, and educational implications for resident training are summarized.

Internship and Residency↗

PubMed1990

The care of family physicians and their families: a study of health and help-seeking behaviour.

Physicians in general are at risk for the development of stress, drug and alcohol abuse, as well as for suicide. Furthermore, the treatment of the sick physician is more difficult than that of a 'regular' patient. These difficulties may cause the postponement of diagnosis and treatment to critical stages of the disease. This paper presents a study of self-rated health and health-seeking behaviour of Israeli family physicians and their families. Our major finding is that two-thirds of the physicians do not have a regular family physician, and physicians who suffer from chronic diseases are even less likely to be treated than the 'healthy' ones. Twenty eight per cent of the physicians did not use any kind of medical consultation. However, each physician's family did receive some form of medical consultation, although in some cases this was not the usual form of medical care. The physicians who treated themselves tended to treat their own families and vice versa. Eighty-eight per cent of the physicians reported stress owing to their work (work overload, poor relationships with the medical team or with the patients), and 20% said that their work as physicians negatively affected their marital life. The relationship between the help-seeking behaviour of the family physician and the quality of care they give is as yet unclear. Various alternatives are raised for changing family physicians' behaviour as well as the primary care health system in order to possibly provide better care for the physicians and their families.

Adult↗

PubMed1992

Ethical issues in interviewing.

A study of the help-seeking behaviours of alcohol dependent and problem drinking women raised a number of ethical issues. It had been anticipated that the design of the study and the construction and approval of appropriate consent forms would eliminate the majority of problems. While this was true, a number of unforeseen points emerged during the course of the study related to interviewing women, discussing emotive issues and the responsibilities of the researcher vis-à-vis their samples. This paper discusses the issues raised using specific examples drawn from the research study.

Alcoholism↗

PubMed1989

Psychosocial responses to oral and maxillofacial surgery for head and neck cancer.

This study involved extensive interviews with 28 patients who had disfiguring oral and maxillofacial surgery for head and neck cancer. The patients, ages 42 to 76 years, had all been informed of their diagnosis and were in 2- to 5-year postoperative follow-up. Findings pertain to how patients deal with the interpersonal and social ramifications of diagnosis and surgical treatment. Fatalism, delays in help-seeking, responses to diagnosis, postsurgical anxiety, and adjustment were reported. Reassurance prior to surgery was sometimes found to limit understanding of postoperative impairment. Oral and maxillofacial surgeons were seen in heroic or imposing roles that impacted on their capacity to be supportive to patients coping with life change and "handicap." The patient treatment decisions were found to be determined by attitudes about death, which motivated patients and surgeons to make difficult or extreme choices. Suffering, social changes, and postoperative uncertainty were patient concerns. Patient strategies for adjusting to disfiguration are examined, and specific recommendations for the oral and maxillofacial surgeon are made.

Adult↗

PubMed1978

Help-seeking mothers and their children.

Forty-three mothers sought help with management of childhood behaviors. Presenting complaints in half or more of the families included stubbornness, talking back to parents, disobedience and other traits indicative of parent-child interaction difficulties. Pretreatment behavioral observations revealed that mothers shared common characteristics of being low in positive warmth and high in negative and oppositional responses. The children were observed to share common traits of little independent play, frequent frustration, and either ignored their mothers or were verbally and physically oppositional. Behavioral counselling and monitored rehearsal served to reverse many of the behaviors. Almost all mothers reported reduction in problem behaviors. Mothers varied widely in attributing usefulness to different program components.

Attitude↗

PubMed1992

Parents of adolescents: help-seeking intentions as a function of help sources and parenting issues.

This study examined the declared intentions of parents of adolescents to seek help from potential sources for a variety of hypothetical problems related to parenting. The relationship between hypothetical help-seeking and certain characteristics of the help-seeker (sex, educational level, parenting, self-confidence, birth order, and sex of the adolescent), and the source of help (natural support system, professional support system, and media); and the problem type were investigated. The research population included 187 parents of adolescents. A questionnaire was formulated for the purpose of the study which examined help-seeking from nine sources of help on eight hypothetical parenting issues. Intention to seek help was found to be a function of both the particular problem type and the potential source of help. In general, parents declared their intention to seek help from and rely on a variety of sources. It was found that parents said that they were most likely to seek help from their spouses regardless of the issue, whereas professional sources were most likely to be consulted in their area of expertise.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1989

Social support: diverse theoretical perspectives.

The useful predictions and interpretations about social support which can be derived from attribution, coping, equity, loneliness and social comparison theories have typically not been recognized. Attribution theory can enable explanation of motives of donors, the phenomena of help-seeking and helping, and negative effects of support efforts. Coping theory demonstrates how social support and coping interface in the stress process; adds a cognitive dimension to support; and considers costs of support. Equity theory explains reactions to support from donor and recipient viewpoints and the reciprocal nature of social support. Loneliness theory attests to the significance of social relationships and emphasizes the affective dimension of support. Social comparison theory is helpful in interpreting positive and debilitating effects of support when the donor is a peer. Further, these five theories enhance theoretical interpretation of social support through their distinctive explanations of the concepts of 'appraisal' and 'helping'. Relevance to health professional assessment and practice can be delineated.

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↗

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↗

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↗