@article{ref1,
title="Autonomy versus support: self-reliance and help-seeking for mental health problems in young people",
journal="Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology",
year="2022",
author="Ishikawa, Amelia and Rickwood, Debra and Bariola, Emily and Bhullar, Navjot",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="PURPOSE: Many young people with mental ill-health do not seek support, and developmental growth in self-reliance may be a barrier to help-seeking. Increasing autonomy is a positive developmental task for youth and a key aspect of resilience. This study examined the influence of perceived social support and resilience on the previously unexamined relationship between self-reliance and intentions to seek help from informal, professional, and self-help sources for mental health problems. <br><br>METHODS: An online survey was completed by a representative Australian community sample of 5,203 young people aged 12-25 years (half female), in May-June 2020. <br><br>RESULTS: Path analysis showed the hypothesised conceptual model did not fit the data well, but a modified model was a good fit. Higher self-reliance was associated with lower intentions to seek informal and professional help, as expected, but not with greater intentions for self-help. The relationship between self-reliance and informal help-seeking intentions was fully mediated by perceived social support, whereas the relationship between self-reliance and professional help-seeking was also direct. Perceived social support fully mediated the relationship between self-reliance and resilience. Intentions to use self-help were not influenced by variables in the study, but higher self-help intentions were associated with higher professional help-seeking intentions. Associations were consistent across age and gender groups. <br><br>CONCLUSION: The results show the critical role of social support for combating some of the unhelpful aspects of self-reliance for mental health help-seeking in young people. Future research should explore how self-reliance can hinder or be harnessed to facilitate accessing appropriate mental health.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0933-7954",
doi="10.1007/s00127-022-02361-4",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00127-022-02361-4"
}