Emotional competence and willingness to seek help from professional and nonprofessional sources

We sought to determine the relationship between emotional competence and willingness to seek help for emotional problems and suicidal ideation. A survey of 300 university undergraduates assessed emotional competence (skill at emotion perception, managing self-relevant emotions, and managing others' emotions), hopelessness, willingness to seek help from health professionals (e.g. counsellor) and nonprofessionals (friends, family), and perceived usefulness of past help-seeking experience. Those who reported feeling less skilled at managing emotions were less willing to seek help from family and friends for both emotional problems and suicidal ideation and less willing to seek help from health professionals for suicidal ideation. These relationships held even after controlling for hopelessness, sex, and past help-seeking experience. Mediational analysis suggested that people low in managing others' emotions were less willing to seek help from professionals because they had had poorer experiences with mental health professionals in the past. There was no significant relationship between emotion perception skill and willingness to seek help. People most likely to be in need of help (those poor at managing emotions) were the least willing to seek it, and if they did seek it, were the least likely to benefit from it.     

Do difficulties with emotions inhibit help-seeking in adolescence? The role of age and emotional competence in predicting help-seeking intentions

We examined whether adolescents who are poor at identifying, describing, and managing their emotions (emotional competence) have lower intentions to seek help for their personal-emotional problems and suicidal ideation, as observed in adult studies. We also examined whether age moderated the relationship between competence and help-seeking. Two hundred and seventeen adolescents completed measures of emotional competence, help-seeking, hopelessness, and social support. Results indicated that adolescents who were low in emotional competence had the lowest intentions to seek help from informal sources (i.e., family and friends) and from some formal sources (e.g., mental health professionals), and the highest intentions to seek help from no-one. There was one important age-related qualification: difficulty in identifying and describing emotions was associated with higher help-seeking intentions amongst young adolescents but lower intentions among older adolescents. Social support, hopelessness, and sex could not entirely explain these relationships. Thus, even those who had high quality social support had less intention to use it if they were low in emotional competence.     

Latino and Latina Adolescents' Help‐seeking Behaviors and Attitudes Regarding Suicide Compared to Peers with Recent Suicidal Ideation

Although Latinas have consistently reported higher rates of suicidal behavior for the past 20 years (CDC, 1996), there is a dearth of information regarding their help‐seeking attitudes and behaviors when dealing with distress and suicide. Associations between adolescents' ideation and help‐seeking from adults were different for non‐Hispanic Whites and Latinos from 14 high schools (N = 4,983). Among females, ideators and Latinas reported lower levels of help‐seeking attitudes than nonideators and non‐Hispanic Whites. Males showed interaction effects of ideation by race/ethnicity on help‐seeking. Within sex by race/ethnicity, differences showed that while non‐Hispanic White students reported consistent differences between suicidal ideation and no reported suicidal ideation, Latinos were more similar between these groups, particularly with having support from friends and family to seek help from adults. Research should clarify how culture contributes to decreased help‐seeking norms among those with suicidal ideation.     

A cross-cultural investigation of the communication of suicidal intent in Swedish and Turkish adolescents

A recent study found that Swedish adolescents were more disapproving of a suicidal disclosure by a fictional friend than their Turkish counterparts. Given this finding, the present study investigated whether or not more adolescents in Turkey than in Sweden disclose their own suicidal thoughts to someone, to whom adolescents disclose their suicidal thoughts, what reactions such disclosures produce, and reasons for not disclosing suicidal feelings among 966 Swedish and 956 Turkish high school students. A questionnaire was used to collect information about different aspects of suicidal disclosures. More Turkish than Swedish adolescent suicide ideators disclosed their thoughts. More Turkish than Swedish students believed also that young people thinking about and planning suicide tell others of their plans and thereby ask for help. An overwhelming majority of adolescents in both groups revealed their thoughts to peers. The social reactions to suicidal disclosures in both samples were mainly positive. The two most common reasons for not disclosing in both groups involved interpersonal hopelessness. Adolescents who disclosed their past suicidal thoughts to someone reported having lower current suicidal ideation than those who had not. In line with favorable social attitudes towards suicidal disclosures and lower suicidal mortality rates in Turkey compared with Sweden, more Turkish than Swedish adolescents reported having disclosed their own suicidal thoughts to someone in their social milieu.     

Externalizing problems,internalizing problems,and suicidal ideation in Singaporean adolescents: Sex differences

Adolescent suicide is considered a worldwide problem and an increasing source of concern in Singapore. This study explores the relationships among four factors of maladjustment (that is, emotional distress, negative self, antisocial behavior, and anger control problems) and suicidal ideation in two hundred and seventy-one adolescents from Singapore. Findings from the study indicated that emotional distress, negative self-concept, and antisocial behavior significantly predicted suicidal ideation for the whole sample. Beta weight is largest for emotional distress, followed by negative self, and then antisocial behavior. For females, only emotional distress significantly predicted suicidal ideation. Implications of these findings with regard to working with adolescents with suicidal ideations are discussed. Funding for this research is facilitated by grant RP 1/01 APH.     

A comparison of mental health literacy,attitudes, and help-seeking intentions among domestic and international tertiary students

Limited research has examined distress or help-seeking knowledge and attitudes among international students. The aim of this study was to examine psychological distress, mental health literacy (MHL), and help-seeking attitudes and intentions among a sample of domestic and international tertiary students. The sample comprised 357 domestic and international tertiary students. Participants completed an online questionnaire package, with measures relating to distress, MHL, help-seeking attitudes, and help-seeking intentions. International student status was predictive of lower scores on MHL, help-seeking attitudes, and help-seeking intentions for suicidal ideation. Student group was not predictive of help-seeking intentions for emotional problems or psychological distress, but international students had lower help-seeking intentions for suicidal ideation. Educational interventions targeting MHL and help-seeking attitudes and intentions among international students may be required to improve help-seeking behaviours.     

Adolescents' attitudes toward suicide, and a suicidal peer: A comparison between Swedish and Turkish high school students

The present paper first presents the attitudes toward suicide and a suicidal classmate among 98 female and 69 male (N = 167) Swedish high school students. Secondly, the Swedish sample was compared with 167 (89 female and 78 male) Turkish high school students from a previous study. Among Swedish students, more males than females said that people have the right to commit suicide and suicide can be a solution to some problems. More females than males expressed a belief in life after death. Swedish adolescents were found to be holding more liberal attitudes toward suicide than Turkish adolescents. However, Turkish adolescents showed greater acceptance for a suicidal peer than Swedish adolescents. The results are discussed in terms of socio-cultural factors and related literature. The need for educational programs to provide basic knowledge about suicide and, effective ways of dealing with and helping suicidal peers is implicated.     

Psychological Distress and Help Seeking in Rural America

The implications of exposure to acute and chronic stressors, and seeking mental health care, for increased psychological distress are examined. Research on economic stress, psychological distress, and rural agrarian values each point to increasing variability within rural areas. Using data from a panel study of 1,487 adults, a model predicting changes in depressive symptoms was specified and tested. Results show effects by size of place for men but not for women. Men living in rural villages of under 2,500 or in small towns of 2,500 to 9,999 people had significantly greater increases in depressive symptoms than men living in the country or in larger towns or cities. Size of place was also related to level of stigma toward mental health care. Persons living in the most rural environments were more likely to hold stigmatized attitudes toward mental health care and these views were strongly predictive of willingness to seek care. The combination of increased risk and less willingness to seek assistance places men living in small towns and villages in particular jeopardy for continuing problems involving depressed mood.     

Early adolescent peer orientation and adjustment during high school

The long-term consequences of early adolescents' orientation toward peers for their adjustment during high school were assessed. Approximately 1,200 adolescents completed questionnaires in the 7th grade and in the 10th or 12th grades; course grades were also obtained from the students' school records. Early adolescents who were willing to sacrifice their talents, school performance, and parents' rules engaged in greater problem behavior and evidenced lower academic achievement than did other adolescents during high school. The poorer adjustment of adolescents with this extreme orientation toward peers was mediated by their reported involvement in deviant peer groups. In contrast, a tendency to seek advice from peers more than from parents during early adolescence had little implication for later adjustment. Discussion focuses on the need to consider the role of peer dependence along with the effects of supportive friendships during adolescence.     

青少年心理行为问题与专业心理求助态度：父母知晓的中介作用

摘 要 对831名中学生施测青少年自评量表、父母知晓量表、专业心理求助态度问卷,考察青少年心理行为问题、父亲知晓、母亲知晓与专业心理求助态度的关系。结果发现：（1）青少年的专业心理求助态度与心理行为问题、父母知晓呈显著相关。（2）父亲知晓在青少年心理行为问题与专业心理求助态度的关系中起部分中介作用,母亲知晓的中介作用不显著。研究结果对青少年专业心理求助的干预有着重要意义。     

Help‐Seeking for Suicidal Thoughts and Self‐Harm in Young People: A Systematic Review

There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that only a minority of young people experiencing suicidal thoughts or self‐harm present to any health services. This is of concern given that young people with suicidal thoughts or self‐harm often require treatment for mental illness as well as to reduce their risk of completed suicide. We reviewed previously published international community epidemiological studies examining help‐seeking for suicidal thoughts or self‐harm in young people up to the age of 26. The studies confirm that the majority of these young people do not seek professional help, and this includes seeking medical help after an overdose. The majority of young people studied do, however, seek help from social networks that most commonly are peers. Factors influencing and barriers to help‐seeking are discussed and highlight a need for further research into the role that peers and family play in the help‐seeking process for young people with suicidal thoughts or self‐harm.     

Suicidal ideation in Hispanic and mixed-ancestry adolescents.

This survey examined differences in suicidal ideation, depressive symptomatology, acculturation, and coping strategies based on ethnicity. The author gathered data from a self-report questionnaire administered to students in an ethnically diverse middle school (grades 6-8, N= 158). Hispanic (predominantly Mexican American) and mixed-ancestry adolescents displayed significantly higher risk of suicidal ideation compared to Anglo peers, even when socioeconomic status, age, and gender were controlled for. Suicidal ideation was associated with depressive symptoms, family problems, lower levels of acculturation, and various coping strategies. Using multivariate analysis, Hispanic ancestry, depressive symptoms, family problems, and the use of social coping remained in the model.     

Adolescents who need help the most are the least likely to seek it: the relationship between low emotional competence and low intention to seek help

It has been found that university students who were the least skilled at managing their emotions also had the lowest intention of seeking help from a variety of nonprofessional sources (e.g. family and friends). The present study sought to extend these findings by focusing on adolescents, examining a larger number of emotional competencies, and exploring the possibility that social support explains the relationship between emotional competence and help-seeking. A total of 137 adolescents (aged 16-18) completed an anonymous survey that assessed social support, emotional competencies, and intention to seek help from a variety of professional and nonprofessional sources. As expected, adolescents who were low in emotional awareness, and who were poor at identifying, describing, and managing their emotions, were the least likely to seek help from nonprofessional sources and had the highest intention of refusing help from everyone. However, low emotional competence was not related to intention to seek help from professional sources (e.g. mental health professionals). The significant results involving nonprofessional sources were only partially explained by social support, suggesting that even adolescents who had high quality support were less likely to make use of that support if they were low in emotional competence.     

Cross‐national comparisons of attitudes towards suicide and suicidal persons in university students from 12 countries

This paper reports the results of a comparative investigation of attitudes to suicide and suicidal persons in 5,572 university students from 12 countries. Participants filled out two scales measuring attitudes towards suicide and suicidal persons, a measure of psychological distress together with the questions about suicidal behavior. Results showed that the highest suicide acceptance scores were observed in Austrian, UK, Japanese and Saudi Arabian samples and the lowest scores were noted in Tunisian, Turkish, Iranian and Palestinian samples. While the highest social acceptance scores for a suicidal friend were noted in Turkish, US, Italian and Tunisian samples, the lowest scores were seen in Japanese, Saudi Arabian, Palestinian and Jordanian samples. Compared to participants with a suicidal past, those who were never suicidal displayed more internal barriers against suicidal behavior. Men were more accepting of suicide than women but women were more willing to help an imagined suicidal peer. Participants with accepting attitudes towards suicide but rejecting attitudes towards suicidal persons reported more suicidal behavior and psychological distress, and were more often from high suicide rate countries and samples than their counterparts. They are considered to be caught in a fatal trap in which most predominant feelings of suicidality such as hopelessness or helplessness are likely to occur. We conclude that in some societies such as Japan and Saudi Arabia it might be difficult for suicidal individuals to activate and make use of social support systems.     

Interparental conflict and risk behaviors among Mexican American adolescents: a cognitive-emotional model

This study used a cognitive-emotional model to examine the relations between multiple dimensions of interparental conflict and health risk behaviors among young adolescents. Participants were 151 Mexican American adolescents and their parents. At initial individual interviews, parents reported on conflict with their spouses, and adolescents reported on their parents' conflict, their appraisals of the conflict, their emotional distress, and their acculturation level. At 6-month follow-ups, adolescents reported on their risk behaviors, including substance use and sexual activity. In general, adolescents' acculturation level was not related to their risk behaviors. More frequent conflict, more conflict about the adolescent, more adolescent involvement in the conflict, and poor conflict resolution were related to greater emotional distress. More conflict about the adolescent, mothers being more demanding/dominating during conflict, and more adolescent involvement in the conflict were related to greater risk behaviors. Adolescents' cognitions mediated the link between two dimensions of parental conflict, frequency and resolution, and emotional distress. Adolescents' emotional distress mediated the association between adolescent involvement in parental conflict and adolescents' risk behaviors.     

Psychosocial factors and reading difficulties: students with reading difficulties drawn from a representative population sample

In a representative sample of 2,464 Norwegian adolescents, aged 12-15 years, 7.8% (n= 191) reported reading difficulties (RD). No gender difference was found. Adolescents with RD were compared to classmates on psychosocial variables. In univariate analysis, RD adolescents report higher levels of depressive symptoms, more school stress, worried more about going to school, had lower school grades and lower attachment to parents than those without RD. They also scored lower on Global Self-worth and on Social Acceptance scales. Further, they reported reduced levels of psycho-functioning during the previous year because of mental health problems, they had received more help and had used more medication for such problems. In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, receiving help for mental health problems and reduced psycho-functioning showed the strongest associations with student RD status. No gender interactions were found. The study demonstrated important differences between adolescents with and without RD.     

Willingness to seek help for psychosocial problems among Latino and white American college students

This study compared 50 Latino and 50 White American students' perceptions of the severity of 25 psychological problems, their willingness to seek help for these problems, and their preferences for caregivers. Each group received a modified version of the Personal Problems Inventory. Latino students rated depression, financial concerns, and discrimination as more severe problems; their preference for mental health workers consistently significantly exceeded those of White students, although both groups preferred seeking help from family and community resources. Findings suggest the possibility of a greater role for therapists serving Latino students than currently exists.     

An Evaluation of a School-Based Suicide Awareness Intervention

This study employed a self-report questionnaire in a Solomon four-groups design to assess the efficacy of suicide intervention classes in achieving their instructional objectives. Because adolescents are often the first to know of a peer's suicidal thoughts or plans, the goal of the classes was to increase the likelihood that students who come into contact with potentially suicidal peers can more readily identify them and will be consistently inclined to take responsible action on their behalf. Students who participated in the classes as compared to controls showed significant gains in relevant knowledge about suicidal peers and significantly more positive attitudes toward help seeking and intervening with troubled peers. Results of this study will be used to strengthen components of the lessons aimed at enhancing the likelihood of performance of responsible interventions     

Relationships Between Treatment Attitudes,Psychological Symptoms,Emotional Competence,and Help‐Seeking Intentions

The authors examined whether emotional competence (i.e., awareness, coping strategies) predicted help‐seeking intentions above and beyond previously identified factors (i.e., attitudes and perceived stigma toward professional help, psychological symptom severity) in an undergraduate sample (N = 531). Emotional awareness predicted help‐seeking intentions for personal/emotional problems and suicidal thoughts. Emotional coping strategies predicted help‐seeking intentions for suicidal thoughts and moderated the relationship between symptom severity and help‐seeking intentions for suicidal thoughts. Efforts to increase help‐seeking should address students' emotional competence.     

Suicidal Ideation and Behavior in Adolescents Aged 12–16 Years: A 17‐Year Follow‐Up

The prevalence of suicidal ideation/behavior in 1983 or 1987 and its association with future mental health in 2001 were evaluated in a provincially representative sample of Canadian adolescents (n = 1,248) aged 12 to 16 years. Approximately 13.3% (95% CI = 11.5–15.3) of adolescents self‐reported suicidal ideation/behavior. Adolescent agreement with parent (κ = .07) and teacher (κ = .05) reports at baseline was low because adults identified so few subjects. In adulthood, the associations between adolescent self‐reports of suicidal behavior/ideation and major depression and other mental health indicators were explained by respondent sex and adolescent emotional problems reported in 1983/1987. Adolescents with suicidal behavior/ideation often are not recognized by their parents and teachers and may be at risk for persistent psychiatric problems attributable to coexisting mental health problems early‐on.