Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 21, 2025

Implementation of a Real-Time Psychosis Risk Detection and Alerting System Based on Electronic Health Records using CogStack
Published on: May 15, 2020
Predictors of help-seeking behaviour in people with mental health problems: a 3-year prospective community study
Carolin M Doll1,2, Chantal Michel3, Marlene Rosen4
1Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine-University and LVR clinic Düsseldorf, Bergische Landstr. 2, 40629, Düsseldorf, Germany. carolin.doll@uk-koeln.de.
Background:
The majority of people with mental illness do not seek help at all or only with significant delay. To reduce help-seeking barriers for people with mental illness, it is therefore important to understand factors predicting help-seeking. Thus, we prospectively examined potential predictors of help-seeking behaviour among people with mental health problems (N = 307) over 3 years.
Methods:
Of the participants of a 3-year follow-up of a larger community study (response rate: 66.4%), data of 307 (56.6%) persons with any mental health problems (age-at-baseline: 16-40 years) entered a structural equation model of the influence of help-seeking, stigma, help-seeking attitudes, functional impairments, age and sex at baseline on subsequent help-seeking for mental health problems.
Results:
Functional impairment at baseline was the strongest predictor of follow-up help-seeking in the model. Help-seeking at baseline was the second-strongest predictor of subsequent help-seeking, which was less likely when help-seeking for mental health problems was assumed to be embarrassing. Personal and perceived stigma, and help-seeking intentions had no direct effect on help-seeking.
Conclusions:
With only 22.5% of persons with mental health problems seeking any help for these, there was a clear treatment gap. Functional deficits were the strongest mediator of help-seeking, indicating that help is only sought when mental health problems have become more severe. Earlier help-seeking seemed to be mostly impeded by anticipated stigma towards help-seeking for mental health problems. Thus, factors or beliefs conveying such anticipated stigma should be studied longitudinally in more detail to be able to establish low-threshold services in future.
Related Concept Videos
Psychological and Sociocultural Causes of Schizophrenia
Community Based Intervention
Foundations of Community Mental Health Programs
Central to the success of community-based interventions is the...
Stress Prevention and Stress Management Techniques VI
Motivation and Self-Determination
Motivation, the driving force behind behavior, plays a pivotal role at every stage of the change process. The research...
Self-Help Support Groups
Accessibility and Cost-Effectiveness
One of the primary strengths of self-help...
Self-Discrepancy Theory
Longitudinal Research

