Parent help-seeking behaviour: Examining the impact of parent beliefs on professional help-seeking for child emotional and behavioural difficulties

Parent attributions and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder knowledge as predictors of specific help-seeking interests

Many children diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) do not receive appropriate services following diagnosis. Although information about ADHD is widely available and abundant, sometimes conflicting information may impede parent help-seeking. The present study examined parent knowledge of ADHD and attributions of child behavior as predictors of interest in formal and informal help seeking at the point of child evaluation for possible ADHD. Participants (89 caregivers of children ages 5-12) completed a measure of ADHD knowledge, rated attributions of child behavior in response to vignettes depicting ADHD symptoms, and indicated their interest in a range of formal and informal services that could be recommended following the child's evaluation. Parents reported strongest interest in academic services followed by medication, child focused therapy, and informal services (e.g., seeking information about ADHD). Family income, ADHD knowledge and attributions that child behavior will persist over time were associated with all types of help-seeking interest except academic services. Perceptions of child control over behavior predicted greater interest in medication. Findings suggest that increasing parent knowledge of ADHD and exploring parent goals and preferences for treatment may increase service utilization for children following assessment/diagnosis of ADHD.

Correlates of help-seeking by parents for the socioemotional development of their 3-year-old children: a longitudinal study

OBJECTIVES

Timely parental help-seeking regarding their child's socioemotional development is associated with a lower rate and lower severity of psychosocial problems in later life. This study aimed to examine the correlates of parental help-seeking for the socio-emotional development of 3-year-old children.

DESIGN

Retrospective cohort study.

SETTING

Community-based survey in Rotterdam.

PARTICIPANTS

Of 2305 parents and their 2-year-old children at baseline, 1507 who completed follow-up questionnaires were included in the analyses when children were 3 years old.

OUTCOME MEASURES

Parental help-seeking regarding their child's socioemotional development and types of formal and informal help sources (eg, general practitioner, internet) used in the past 12 months were measured. Hierarchical logistic regression models were applied to identify factors correlates of parental help-seeking among 13 predisposing, enabling and need factors according to Andersen's behavioural model.

RESULTS

In total, 22.6% of parents reported help-seeking in the past 12 months for socioemotional development of their 3-year-old child; 6.8% addressed formal help sources and 17.5% addressed informal help sources. General practitioner (2.7%) and family (12.5%) were the most frequently used formal and informal sources, respectively. In the full model, predisposing factors associated with higher odds of parental help-seeking were child's other western ethnic background (OR=1.66, 95% CI 1.02 to 2.68) and parental age ≤29 years old (OR=1.71, 95% CI 1.01 to 2.92). No associated factors were found among enabling factors. The need factors associated with higher odds of parental help-seeking were having previous help-seeking (OR=2.52, 95% CI 1.83 to 3.48) and discussing child's socioemotional development in the well-child visit (OR=2.47, 95% CI 1.73 to 3.53).

CONCLUSIONS

Predisposing and need factors were associated with parental help-seeking for socioemotional development of 3-year-old children. The findings can be used to further develop support for parents accessing adequate information, prevention and anticipatory care with regards to the child's socio-emotional development.

Bridging the gap between child mental health need and professional service utilisation: Examining the influence of mothers' parental attributions on professional help-seeking intentions

There is a significant gap between the need for child mental health services and use of these services by families. Parental attributions may play a role in this. This study examined whether mothers' attributions about their child's problems influence professional help-seeking intentions in a general sample of community mothers. Secondary analysis re-examined this hypothesis in a subgroup of mothers of children with clinically elevated mental health symptoms. Cross-sectional survey data were collected from mothers (N = 184) of children aged between 2 and 12 years recruited from the community. Mothers completed self-report questionnaires measuring parental attributions: child-responsible attributions and parental self-efficacy; professional help-seeking intentions; and psychosocial covariates: child mental health, mothers' anxiety and depression, child age, gender, marital status, education, and professional help-seeking experience. Hierarchical regression modelling indicated that parental attributions explained professional help-seeking intentions after controlling for covariates in both the general sample (ΔF = 6.07; p = .003) and subgroup analysis (ΔF = 10.22, p = .000). Professional help-seeking intentions were positively associated with child-responsible attributions (β = .19, p = .002) but not parental self-efficacy (β =  - .01, p = .865) in the general sample, while positively associated with child-responsible attributions (β = .20, p = .009) and negatively associated with parental self-efficacy (β =  - .16, p = .034) in the subgroup analysis. Findings were independent of the presence of clinically elevated symptoms, problem type, and severity. Overall, the findings support models suggesting that parental attributions have a role in professional help-seeking for child mental health problems.

Influence of Parental Attitude Toward Psychiatric Help on Their Children's Suicidal Ideation: A Convenience Sample Study on One South Korean Middle School

Depression, depression stigma, and attitude toward psychiatric help are associated factors of suicide in adolescents. As parents are the main decision-makers of receiving professional help for their children's depression and suicide, parental factors influencing their children's suicide should be examined. Moreover, parents' help-seeking attitude for their own mental health problems could affect their children's mental health problems. Therefore, this study examined the serial mediation of adolescents' depression, depression stigma, and attitude toward psychiatric help in the relationship between parental attitude toward psychiatric help and the suicidal ideation of their children, using data of 103 parent-child pairs. A cross-sectional study was conducted by employing a self-administered survey. A serial mediation analysis was performed using Amos 25.0. Parental attitude toward psychiatric help directly and indirectly influenced children's suicidal ideation. Children's depression stigma, attitude toward psychiatric help, and depression mediated the relationship of parental attitude toward psychiatric help and their children's suicidal ideation. When parents have a more positive attitude toward psychiatric help, their children's suicidal ideation become more decreased. Enhancing only parental attitude toward psychiatric help may make a positive change on their children's suicidal ideation. The study findings imply that when developing and applying youth suicide prevention programs, how parents affect their children's suicidal ideation should be considered as well as adolescents' depression stigma, attitude toward psychiatric help, and depression. Given the results of this study, healthcare providers may better evaluate the effectiveness of their intervention programs for preventing adolescents' suicide.