| 總結: | Introduction: Despite the availability of mental health services, a large number of
adolescents are reluctant to seek help for their mental health problems. This study aims
to determine help-seeking behaviour, the factors influencing the use of mental health
services as well as barriers to help-seeking for mental health problems among late
adolescents in Selangor.
Methods: This study employed a sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach. It was
divided into quantitative and qualitative phases. In the quantitative phase, the data was
collected via a cross-sectional survey using a self-administered questionnaire. The
variables used in the questionnaire were identified from Andersen’s Behavioural Model
of Health Services Utilisation. A total of 758 school-going adolescents aged 18-19 years
completed the questionnaire. Complementary to the quantitative analyses, the qualitative
phase was conducted via in-depth interviews among 22 adolescents. The study was
conducted from February to August 2017. Multiple logistic regression for complex
sample analysis was used to analyse quantitative data. Content analysis was applied to
analyse the qualitative data.
Results: Findings showed that 53.2% of adolescents had sought help from any of the
services in the past 12-months regardless of their current mental health status. Of these,
only 3.7% sought help from formal mental health services. Among those who sought help
from any of the services, 96% sought help from informal sources. Meanwhile, of those
who did not seek help from mental health services, 85.9% sought help from informal
sources. Among adolescents with apparent mental health problems, 59.2% sought help
from any service in the past 12-months with only 6.9% seeking help from formal mental
health services. The majority of adolescents in this study preferred to seek help from
family (48%) and friends (38.5%). Findings from the logistic regression analyses
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indicated that adolescents who had excellent, very good and good knowledge of the
symptoms of depression (OR= 2.10, 95% CI= 1.31, 3.36), experience of depression prior
to survey (OR= 1.44, 95% CI= 1.02, 2.02), were aware of the available resources (OR=
1.90, 95% CI= 1.08, 3.36), and perceived need for help (OR=1.61, 95% CI 1.12, 2,29)
were more likely to seek help from formal and informal mental health services. The
qualitative findings further confirmed that friends and family were the leading support
sources for adolescents’ mental health problems. According to the participants, concern
about being judged or labelled was the most common barrier to seeking professional help.
This was followed by logistic barriers, negative experience with healthcare providers,
confidentiality and trust issues, and difficulty or unwillingness to express emotion.
Conclusion: The findings suggest the importance of enhancing Malaysian adolescents’
knowledge of mental health, increasing awareness of the availability of mental health
resources and improving help-seeking behaviour and access to mental health services.
Further efforts should be made to address the barriers and provide adolescent-friendly
mental health services.
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