Counseling Psychology Program, Department of Education and Human Services, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York.
J Adolesc Health. 2024 Feb;74(2):268-276. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2023.08.034. Epub 2023 Oct 8.
Many adolescents struggle to access the mental healthcare they need. To increase access to mental health services, we must have a clear understanding of the barriers adolescents face from their own perspectives. This online mixed-methods study aimed to enhance understanding of access barriers by centering the perspectives of diverse adolescents who had recently tried and failed to access mental health support.
In this convergent parallel mixed-methods study, adolescents responded to a preintervention, open-ended question about barriers they have faced to accessing mental health services when they needed them and shared information about their background and depressive symptoms. Barriers were assessed using inductive, conventional content analysis. Quantitative analyses examined barrier differences across sociodemographic groups.
All adolescents (aged 11-17 years, 50% racially minoritized youth, 15% gender diverse youth, 64% LGBTQ + youth; 78% with clinically elevated depressive symptoms) reported at least one barrier to accessing mental health support, and 20% reported multiple barriers. Content analysis revealed 13 barrier categories, with parent-related barriers (three different categories) accounting for 32% of all barriers. The most common barrier categories related to personal and financial constraints. Asian adolescents, adolescents who were aged 17 years or more, and adolescents who reported uncertainty of their gender identity endorsed the numerically highest mean number of barriers to accessing mental health support.
High-symptom adolescents reported myriad barriers to accessing mental health support, with 32% of all barriers related to parents.
许多青少年难以获得他们所需的心理健康保健。为了增加获得心理健康服务的机会，我们必须从青少年自身的角度清楚地了解他们所面临的障碍。本项在线混合方法研究旨在通过关注最近试图获得但未能获得心理健康支持的不同青少年的观点，来增进对获取障碍的理解。
在这项收敛并行混合方法研究中，青少年在干预前对他们在需要时遇到的获取心理健康服务的障碍做出了开放性回答，并分享了他们的背景和抑郁症状信息。使用归纳、常规内容分析评估障碍。定量分析检查了不同社会人口统计学群体之间的障碍差异。
所有青少年（年龄在 11-17 岁之间，50%为少数族裔青年，15%为性别多样化青年，64%为 LGBTQ+青年；78%有临床显著的抑郁症状）报告至少有一个获取心理健康支持的障碍，20%报告有多个障碍。内容分析显示了 13 个障碍类别，其中与父母相关的障碍（三个不同类别）占所有障碍的 32%。最常见的障碍类别与个人和经济限制有关。亚洲青少年、17 岁及以上的青少年以及报告性别认同不确定的青少年对获取心理健康支持的障碍的平均数量最高。
高症状青少年报告了许多获取心理健康支持的障碍，其中 32%的障碍与父母有关。
