Maloney Catherine A, Abel Wendel D, McLeod Hamish J
Institute of Health and Wellbeing, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, 1st Floor, Admin Building, Gartnavel Royal Hospital, 1055 Great Western Road, Glasgow G12 0XH, United Kingdom.
Department of Community Health and Psychiatry, Section of Psychiatry, The University of the West Indies, Kingston 7, Jamaica.
Internet Interv. 2020 May 7;21:100325. doi: 10.1016/j.invent.2020.100325. eCollection 2020 Sep.
Improving access to mental health resources for young people is an urgent healthcare challenge. As the majority of youth live in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) mental ill health can exert substantial adverse impacts on societies that can least afford it. Digital mental health technologies might help close the treatment gap but we need to understand barriers to implementing these strategies, especially in resource constrained contexts such as LMICs.
We surveyed adolescents ( = 107; aged 10-19 years) from Jamaican communities using questionnaires adopted from previous studies conducted in LMICs. The questions addressed mental health help-seeking preferences, expectations of help-seeking effectiveness, and practical and attitudinal barriers to using mobile-phone-based mental health resources. We present descriptive data alongside exploratory analyses of differences in attitudes and preferences expressed by subgroups of respondents.
Adolescents reported very few practical or infrastructure barriers to accessing digital mental health resources. >90% of the sample had access to a smartphone, 78% expected that digital solutions could benefit adolescents with symptoms of mental distress, and 56% were interested in using mental health apps to monitor their own mental health. Stigma, shame, and embarrassment were major barriers to help-seeking and formal professional help was only preferred for more severe conditions such as psychosis and substance abuse.
Practical barriers are unlikely to impede the uptake of digital mental health resources by Jamaican adolescents. Our data suggest that mental health literacy, stigma, and embarrassment pose more serious blocks to help-seeking.
改善青少年获得心理健康资源的机会是一项紧迫的医疗保健挑战。由于大多数青少年生活在低收入和中等收入国家（LMICs），心理健康问题可能会对最无力承担的社会产生重大不利影响。数字心理健康技术可能有助于缩小治疗差距，但我们需要了解实施这些策略的障碍，尤其是在像LMICs这样资源有限的环境中。
我们使用先前在LMICs进行的研究中采用的问卷，对来自牙买加社区的青少年（n = 107；年龄10 - 19岁）进行了调查。这些问题涉及心理健康求助偏好、对求助有效性的期望以及使用基于手机的心理健康资源的实际和态度障碍。我们在呈现描述性数据的同时，对受访者亚组表达的态度和偏好差异进行探索性分析。
青少年报告称，在获取数字心理健康资源方面几乎没有实际或基础设施方面的障碍。超过90%的样本可以使用智能手机，78%的人预计数字解决方案会对有精神困扰症状的青少年有益，56%的人有兴趣使用心理健康应用程序来监测自己的心理健康。耻辱感、羞耻感和尴尬感是求助的主要障碍，只有在诸如精神病和药物滥用等更严重的情况下，才更倾向于寻求正式的专业帮助。
实际障碍不太可能阻碍牙买加青少年采用数字心理健康资源。我们的数据表明，心理健康素养、耻辱感和尴尬感对求助构成了更严重的阻碍。
