Mori Yuko, Sourander Andre, Mishina Kaisa, Ståhlberg Tiia, Klomek Anat Brunstein, Kolaitis Gerasimos, Kaneko Hitoshi, Li Liping, Huong Mai Nguyen, Praharaj Samir Kumar, Kyrrestad Henriette, Lempinen Lotta, Heinonen Emmi
Department of Child Psychiatry, Research Centre for Child Psychiatry, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Lemminkäisenkatu 3, Turku, 20014, Finland.
INVEST Research Flagship Center, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2024 Dec;33(12):4349-4359. doi: 10.1007/s00787-024-02472-0. Epub 2024 May 31.
The unmet need for mental health care is a global concern. There is a lack of cross-cultural studies examining adolescent help-seeking behavior from both formal and informal sources, including both high-and lower-income countries. This study investigates mental health help-seeking behavior in eight Asian and European countries. Data from 13,184 adolescents aged 13-15 (51% girls) was analysed using mixed-effects logistic regression with school-wise random intercepts to compare countries and genders. Although a significant proportion of adolescents considered getting or sought informal help, formal help-seeking remained exceptionally low, especially in middle-income countries (< 1%), while it ranged from 2 to 7% in high-income countries. Among adolescents with high emotional and behavioral problems (scoring above the 90th percentile on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire), 1-2% of those in middle-income countries and 6-25% of those in high-income countries sought formal help. Girls generally seek more help than boys. The study shows the most adolescents do not receive formal help for mental health problems. The unmet need gap is enormous, especially in lower-income countries. Informal sources of support, including relatives, peers, and teachers, play a crucial role, especially in lower-income countries.
心理健康护理方面未得到满足的需求是一个全球关注的问题。缺乏跨文化研究来考察来自正式和非正式渠道(包括高收入和低收入国家)的青少年求助行为。本研究调查了八个亚洲和欧洲国家的心理健康求助行为。使用具有学校层面随机截距的混合效应逻辑回归分析了来自13184名13至15岁青少年(51%为女孩)的数据,以比较不同国家和性别。尽管相当一部分青少年考虑获得或寻求非正式帮助,但正式求助的比例仍然极低,尤其是在中等收入国家(<1%),而在高收入国家这一比例为2%至7%。在情绪和行为问题严重(在优势与困难问卷上得分高于第90百分位)的青少年中,中等收入国家有1%至2%的人寻求正式帮助,高收入国家有6%至25%的人寻求正式帮助。女孩通常比男孩寻求更多帮助。该研究表明,大多数青少年在心理健康问题上没有得到正式帮助。未得到满足的需求差距巨大,尤其是在低收入国家。包括亲戚、同伴和教师在内的非正式支持来源发挥着关键作用,尤其是在低收入国家。