Association between interpersonal resources and mental health professional help-seeking among Chinese adolescents with probable depression: mediations via personal resources and active coping

Hui Lu; Yanqiu Yu; Deborah Baofeng Wang; Anise M S Wu; Juliet Honglei Chen; Guohua Zhang; Yili Wu; Joseph T F Lau

doi:10.1186/s12888-024-06271-4

Association between interpersonal resources and mental health professional help-seeking among Chinese adolescents with probable depression: mediations via personal resources and active coping

BMC Psychiatry. 2024 Nov 21;24(1):840. doi: 10.1186/s12888-024-06271-4.

Authors

Hui Lu^#¹, Yanqiu Yu^#², Deborah Baofeng Wang³, Anise M S Wu^{4

5}, Juliet Honglei Chen⁶, Guohua Zhang⁷, Yili Wu^{8

9

10}, Joseph T F Lau^{11

12}

Affiliations

¹ Oujiang Laboratory (Zhejiang Lab for Regenerative Medicine, Vision and Brain Health), Postgraduate Training Base Alliance of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China.
² School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
³ Zhejiang Provincial Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, The Affiliated Wenzhou Kangning Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China.
⁴ Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Macau, Taipa, China.
⁵ Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Institute of Collaborative Innovation, University of Macau, Macao, China.
⁶ Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
⁷ School of Mental Health, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China.
⁸ Oujiang Laboratory (Zhejiang Lab for Regenerative Medicine, Vision and Brain Health), Postgraduate Training Base Alliance of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China. wuyili@wmu.edu.cn.
⁹ Zhejiang Provincial Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, The Affiliated Wenzhou Kangning Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China. wuyili@wmu.edu.cn.
¹⁰ School of Mental Health, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China. wuyili@wmu.edu.cn.
¹¹ Zhejiang Provincial Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, The Affiliated Wenzhou Kangning Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China. jlau@cuhk.edu.hk.
¹² School of Mental Health, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China. jlau@cuhk.edu.hk.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: Globally, adolescent depression is prevalent. There is, however, a dearth of studies investigating behavioral intention to professional help-seeking regarding mental health problems among adolescents having probable depression. Based on the Stress Coping Theory, the hypothesis that personal resources and active coping would mediate between interpersonal resources and behavioral intention to professional help-seeking was investigated.

Methods: Students from five junior middle schools, three senior high schools, and one vocational school were selected to participate in the survey from February to March 2022 via convenient sampling. The questionnaire collected participants' characteristics, depression, peer acceptance/support, resilience, self-compassion, active coping, and behavioral intention to professional help-seeking. The final sample included 1,425 Chinese adolescents having probable depression (Patient Health Questionnaire score ≥ 10). SPSS 23.0 and Mplus 8.3 were employed to analyze the data.

Results: The prevalence of behavioral intention to professional help-seeking was 15.4%. Adjusted for background factors, peer acceptance, resilience, self-compassion, and active coping were significantly associated with behavioral intention to professional help-seeking (ORa ranged from 1.05 to 1.31). The indirect effects via active coping (β = 0.020) and a serial indirect effect via personal resources and active coping (β = 0.029) were statistically significant. The direct effect from interpersonal resources to behavioral intention to professional help-seeking was non-significant.

Conclusion: The prevalence of behavioral intention to professional help-seeking among adolescents with probable depression was low and might render early detection/intervention ineffective. It is important to increase the intention to seek help from professionals. One possibility is to enhance interpersonal/personal resources and active coping.

Keywords: Active coping; Coping resources; Depression, Chinese adolescents, professional help-seeking; Stress Coping Theory.

MeSH terms

Adaptation, Psychological*
Adolescent
Adolescent Behavior / psychology
China
Depression* / psychology
East Asian People
Female
Help-Seeking Behavior
Humans
Interpersonal Relations
Male
Mental Health Services / statistics & numerical data
Patient Acceptance of Health Care* / psychology
Resilience, Psychological
Social Support
Surveys and Questionnaires