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Who is seeking whom? A person-centred approach to help-seeking in adults with currently untreated mental health problems via latent class analysis

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Abstract

Purpose

Global surveys point to a gap in mental health service utilisation. However, contacting more than one source of professional help may influence the estimates of utilisation. Currently, few studies statistically differentiate between different sources of help based on patient characteristics.

Methods

We assessed sociodemographic and psychosocial data in a convenience sample of 188 adults with mental health problems (Mage = 50.34 years; SD = 16.19; 71% female), who reported their help-seeking behaviour during the next 6 months. We analysed their behaviour via latent class analysis and compared baseline characteristics between classes.

Results

We found four latent classes: “mental health professionals” (MHP; 9.0%), “multiple sources” (4.3%), “primary care” (35.6%), and “non-seekers” (51.1%). All classes had moderate to high probabilities of seeking help from friends or family. Primary care utilisers were more often in a cohabiting partnership; MHP utilisers were more experienced in mental health treatment and reported lower well-being and more depressive symptoms than non-seekers. By trend, non-seekers were younger, and both non-seekers and primary care utilisers reported fewer depressive and somatic symptoms than utilisers of multiple sources and MHP.

Conclusions

In our analysis, MHP utilisation was even lower (9.0%) than in previous studies. However, MHP utilisers appeared to suffer from more serious conditions than other latent classes. As informal sources such as family and friends were present in all latent classes, help-seeking behaviour seems to transcend traditional MHP-focused approaches. Further research is necessary to investigate tenability and trajectories of different latent classes of help-seeking in larger and representative samples with longer follow-ups.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG): S.Sc., Grant no. SCHM 2683/4-1, and G.S., Grant no. SCHO 1337/4-1. The DFG was not involved in either study design, data collection, analysis or interpretation of the data, the writing of the manuscript or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department Health and Prevention, Institute of Psychology, University of Greifswald, Robert-Blum-Straße 13, 17487, Greifswald, Germany

    S. Tomczyk, H. Muehlan & S. Schmidt

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University Medicine Greifswald, Ellernholzstraße 1-2, 17475, Greifswald, Germany

    G. Schomerus & S. Stolzenburg

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  1. S. Tomczyk
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Correspondence to S. Tomczyk.

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Ethical standards

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University Medicine Greifswald and was, therefore, conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. All participants gave their informed consent prior to their inclusion in the study.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Data are available upon request (S.T.).

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Tomczyk, S., Schomerus, G., Stolzenburg, S. et al. Who is seeking whom? A person-centred approach to help-seeking in adults with currently untreated mental health problems via latent class analysis. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 53, 773–783 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-018-1537-7

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