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Attitudes and illness factors associated with low perceived need for depression treatment among young adults

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Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

We do not yet fully understand how low perceived need for treatment leads many young adults to not seek care for their depression.

Methods

A cross-sectional study of 10,962 depressed young adults (ages 16–29) who visited a depression screening/education Internet website. Based on the Theory of Reasoned Action, we developed a multivariate model to determine the effects of beliefs and attitudes, social norms, past treatment behavior, and symptom severity on low perceived depression treatment need (i.e., not agreeing that one needs depression treatment).

Results

Negative beliefs and attitudes, social norms, and past treatment behavior predicted low perceived depression treatment need and explained more than half the model variance. Even after adjusting for depression severity and symptoms of other mental disorders, lacking confidence in either a biological or counseling based explanation or treatment approach for depression predicted low perceived depression treatment need.

Conclusions

Lack of helpful treatment experiences and/or confidence in either of the currently practiced depression treatment models may prevent many young adults from seeking depression treatment.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by NRSA grant T32PE10025. The help of Donica E. Van Voorhees in reviewing and editing multiple versions of the manuscript is acknowledged.

Conflicts of Interest: The authors do not have any conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Medicine, Section of General Internal Medicine, The University of Chicago, 5841 South Maryland Avenue, MC 20007, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA

    Benjamin W. Van Voorhees MD, MPH

  2. Dept. of Pediatrics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Benjamin W. Van Voorhees MD, MPH

  3. Dept. of Economics, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY, USA

    Joshua Fogel PhD

  4. Dept. of Medicine, University of Alabama School of Medicine, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Thomas K. Houston MD, MPH

  5. Center for Outcomes and Effectiveness Research and Education, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Thomas K. Houston MD, MPH

  6. Dept. of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Lisa A. Cooper MD, MPH, Nae-Yuh Wang PhD & Daniel E. Ford MD, MPH

  7. Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Lisa A. Cooper MD, MPH, Nae-Yuh Wang PhD & Daniel E. Ford MD, MPH

  8. Dept. of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Lisa A. Cooper MD, MPH & Daniel E. Ford MD, MPH

  9. Dept. of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Daniel E. Ford MD, MPH

Authors
  1. Benjamin W. Van Voorhees MD, MPH
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  2. Joshua Fogel PhD
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  3. Thomas K. Houston MD, MPH
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  4. Lisa A. Cooper MD, MPH
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  5. Nae-Yuh Wang PhD
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  6. Daniel E. Ford MD, MPH
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Benjamin W. Van Voorhees MD, MPH.

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Van Voorhees, B.W., Fogel, J., Houston, T.K. et al. Attitudes and illness factors associated with low perceived need for depression treatment among young adults. Soc Psychiat Epidemiol 41, 746–754 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-006-0091-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-006-0091-x

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