The relationship between social support, help-seeking behavior, and psychological distress in psychiatric clients

A descriptive exploratory design was used to examine the relationship between the level of social support, the level of psychological distress, and the extent of help-seeking behavior in a nonprobability sample of 53 hospitalized adult psychiatric patients. The subjects completed the Norbeck Social Support Questionnaire, the Brief Symptom Inventory, and a researcher-designed Help-Seeking Behavior Questionnaire. The Pearson Product Moment Correlation coefficients and t test were used to analyze the data. No significant correlation was found between the level of psychological distress and either the level of social support or the extent of help seeking. Social support and help seeking were highly correlated. These results have an implication for nursing practice pertaining to the focus of patient treatment both during hospitalization and in postdischarge planning.