Barriers and facilitating factors to help‐seeking for symptoms of clinical anxiety in adolescent males

Abstract

Objective: Young men are very reluctant to seek help for anxiety disorders. In particular, the factors that facilitate mental health help-seeking in adolescent males are poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate the barriers and facilitating factors to help-seeking behaviour for clinical anxiety in Australian adolescent males. Method: The views of 29 adolescent males, both with and without experience of clinical anxiety symptoms, were elicited using semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Verbatim transcripts were analysed using grounded theory. Results: Primary barriers to help-seeking included stigma (particularly in relation to social norms of masculinity), effort, limited awareness/knowledge of symptoms of anxiety and a sense of being 'confronted' by private emotions through help-seeking. Facilitating factors included increasing the accessibility of schoolbased mental health literacy programs and providing a wider range of formal and informal help-seeking options. Other facilitators related to amendments in how mental health information is presented and investments into high speed/low effort help-seeking options. A preliminary model of mental health help-seeking in adolescent males with clinical anxiety is presented. Conclusion: Adolescent males feel that they risk significant stigma by help-seeking for mental health problems but lack information as to the benefits or the experience of help seeking. A stepped approach to options for mental health support and information for this population should be evaluated. What is already known about this topicWhat this topic adds 1. The current investigation is one of the first to investigate help-seeking for anxiety disorders specifically in adolescent males. 2. This investigation identified barriers to help-seeking that included stigma (particularly in relation to social norms of masculinity), effort, limited awareness/ knowledge of symptoms of anxiety and a sense of being 'confronted' by private emotions through helpseeking. 3. This investigation also identified facilitating factors to help-seeking that included increasing the accessibility of school-based mental health literacy programs and providing a wider range of formal and informal helpseeking options. Other help-seeking facilitators related to how mental health information is presented and investments into high-speed/low-effort help-seeking options. 4. A preliminary model is proposed to illustrate how barriers and facilitating factors may influence different components of the help-seeking process.

Overcoming barriers to reach for a helping hand: adolescent boys’ experience of visiting the public health nurse for mental health problems

“…The adolescent boys described it as not being masculine to talk about this problem. The social norm among adolescent boys is to be strong, and it could be a sign of weakness to be open about mental health problems and seek help (Clark, Hudson, Dunstan, & Clark, 2018). A systematic review found that stigma and embarrassment were the most prominent barriers to seeking help for mental health problems among adolescents (Gulliver et al, 2010).…”

“…In this study, both perspectives were identified. Seeking help for mental health problems can involve exposure to bullying or exclusion (Clark et al, 2018). In addition to stigma, guilt and fear are seen as obstacles to seeking help (Fargas-Malet & McSherry, 2017).…”

“…A common factor for the adolescent boys in the present study was the importance of confidentiality, and they were all aware of a PHN's confidentiality by law. Concern about confidentiality has been reported as a prominent barrier to seeking mental health help in several studies (Clark et al, 2018;Gulliver et al, 2010). In Norway, all the PHNs are subjected to stringent confidentiality (Ministry of Health and Care Services, 2000), but despite this some adolescent boys experienced the PHN not complying with the duty of confidentiality.…”

“I Feel Abused by My Own Mind”: Themes of Control in Men’s Online Accounts of Living With Anxiety

“…Social norms around masculinity, such as self-control and emotional stoicism, are argued to make it more difficult for men to recognize and discuss anxiety and distress with health care providers (Johnson et al, 2012;Oliffe et al, 2018;Scholz et al, 2017). Indeed, preliminary research into help-seeking for anxiety among Australian adolescent males emphasizes stigma, and its relation to social norms of masculinity as a barrier to help-seeking (Clark et al, 2018). Still, the most recent Australian National Health Survey (ABS, 2017(ABS, -2018 suggests that one in 10 men report having at least one anxiety-related condition.…”

Capturing the Attitudes of Adolescent Males’ Towards Computerised Mental Health Help‐Seeking

“…The data were collected alongside another qualitative study investigating barriers and facilitating factors to mental health service utilisation in adolescent males (Clark, Hudson, Dunstan, & Clark, ) and the same adolescents participated in both studies. Purposive sampling was employed to recruit adolescent male participants ranging in age.…”