Seeking Help From Everyone and No-One

Abstract

Online help-seeking is an emerging trend within the 21st century. Yet, despite some movement toward developing online services, little is known about how young people locate, access, and receive support online. This study aims to conceptualize the process of online help-seeking among adolescent males. Modified photo-elicitation techniques were employed within eight semi-structured focus group sessions with adolescent males aged 14 to 15 years (n = 56) across seven schools in Northern Ireland. Thematic analyses were conducted within an ontological framework of critical realism and an epistemological framework of contextualism. Informal online help-seeking pathways increased opportunity for social support and reduced stigma but also included loss of control and reduced anonymity. Formal pathways offered increased anonymity but concerns were raised regarding participants' ability to locate and appraise the quality of information online. A conceptual model of online help-seeking has been developed to highlight the key help-seeking pathways taken by adolescent males.

Stigma related to targeted school-based mental health interventions: A systematic review of qualitative evidence

“…Stigma-related concerns were also mitigated by specific assurances about confidentiality and the development of trust in relationships with intervention providers. This corresponds with previous reports of stigma-related concerns in other service settings (Best et al, 2016;Buchholz et al, 2015;Gronholm et al, 2017).…”

Adolescents’ Views on Seeking Help for Emotional and Behavioral Problems: A Focus Group Study

“…In addition, the internet is increasingly used as a source of help, however, little is known about the online help-seeking behavior of adolescents [20]. Best et al [21] found a difference between informal and formal online help-seeking pathways. Informal online help-seeking pathways in adolescent males reduced stigma and increased the opportunity for social support, but simultaneously reduced anonymity and control.…”

“…Informal online help-seeking pathways in adolescent males reduced stigma and increased the opportunity for social support, but simultaneously reduced anonymity and control. In contrast, formal online help-seeking pathways increased anonymity, but concurrently, they also raised concerns on the abilities of adolescents to locate and assess the quality of the information correctly [21].…”

Digital support seeking in adolescent girls: A qualitative study of affordances and limitations

“…Increased self-disclosure in turn predicts having higher quality friendships (Valkenburg & Peter, 2009). Some adolescents identify that online selfdisclosure protects them from feeling vulnerable when discussing their feelings, while the asynchronous nature of digital communication offers them more control over their expressions (Best et al, 2016;Nesi et al, 2018;Vermeulen et al, 2018a). Thus, for some adolescents, a perception of reduced interpersonal costs (Lim et al, 2013) or reduced stigma (DeAndrea, 2015) may facilitate digital support seeking.…”

“…Cooper et al, 2016;Nesi et al, 2018), adolescents may also be concerned about their support seeking attempts being shared with others. Indeed, the potential for disclosure of personal information to unintended others has been identified as a salient concern by adolescents in several studies (Best et al, 2016;Vermeulen et al, 2018a). It is unknown, however, whether trust concerns influence adolescent girls' digital support seeking behaviours.…”