School of Psychological Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
J Ment Health. 2013 Feb;22(1):72-82. doi: 10.3109/09638237.2012.705924. Epub 2012 Sep 7.
A large proportion of initial therapy appointments are not attended. Whether this reflects service-user choice or an unmet need for therapy, non-attendance can impact on patients, therapists, services and research evaluation.
To understand the complexities of this phenomenon, this paper reviews the mental health literature to gain further insight into how predictor variables can influence professional help-seeking decisions.
This review reveals a modest success at identifying specific demographic and psychological factors, yet methodological issues surrounding data collection techniques have often led to contradictory and inconclusive findings.
This paper examines the possibility that approach-avoidance conflict [Kushner, M.G. & Sher, K.J. (1989, 1991). Fear of psychological treatment and its relation to mental health service avoidance. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 20, 251-257; The relation of treatment fearfulness and psychological service utilization: An overview. Professional Psychology: Research and practice, 22, 196-203] could explain the contradictions in the literature because, in this model, different factors involved in driving engagement versus avoidance become more salient depending on a dynamic interplay of timing, the individual and their service context. The core principles behind this approach-avoidance conceptualisation are explained and further avenues for research are identified.
很大一部分初始治疗预约都未到场。无论这反映了服务使用者的选择还是治疗的未满足需求，未到场都会对患者、治疗师、服务和研究评估产生影响。
为了了解这一现象的复杂性，本文综述了心理健康文献，以更深入地了解预测变量如何影响专业寻求帮助的决策。
本综述揭示了在识别特定人口统计学和心理因素方面取得了一定的成功，但围绕数据收集技术的方法问题常常导致矛盾和不确定的发现。
本文探讨了回避-接近冲突的可能性[Kushner, M.G. 和 Sher, K.J. (1989, 1991)。对心理治疗的恐惧及其与心理健康服务回避的关系。专业心理学：研究与实践, 20, 251-257; 治疗恐惧和心理服务利用的关系：概述。专业心理学：研究与实践, 22, 196-203] 可以解释文献中的矛盾，因为在这个模型中，驱动参与和回避的不同因素根据时间、个体及其服务环境的动态相互作用变得更加突出。解释了这种回避-接近概念化背后的核心原则，并确定了进一步的研究途径。
