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A large-scale international study conducted at the University of Turku in Finland found that most adolescents do not seek professional help despite suffering from serious mental health problems. This unmet need was found in all eight Asian and European countries that took part in the study, but was particularly prevalent in low-income countries.
The study, published in the European Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, found that although many adolescents consider or seek help from informal sources for their mental health problems, very few seek help from formal sources.
Yuko Mori, a postdoctoral researcher at the Child Psychiatry Research Center at the University of Turku in Finland and lead author of the study, said when adolescents try to get outside help to deal with mental health problems, there are two main ways they seek help: informal and formal.
“Adolescents may receive professional help from informal sources, such as friends, teachers or family members, or from formal sources, such as school nurses, psychologists or counselors. Where they seek help may vary depending on, for example, the availability of services, their cultural background and the stigma associated with mental illness,” Mori says.
Fewer than 1% of young people in middle-income countries seek specialist help
The study included 13,184 adolescents aged 13 to 15 years who completed self-administered questionnaires in eight Asian and European countries: China, Finland, Greece, India, Israel, Japan, Norway and Vietnam between 2011 and 2017. The study was conducted as part of the Eurasian Child Mental Health Study (EACMHS), a school-based international study of adolescent well-being and mental health.
In middle-income countries, less than 1% of people seek professional help, while in high-income countries the rate is slightly higher, between 2% and 7%. In general, girls are more likely than boys to seek help for mental health problems.
In middle-income countries (India, Vietnam and China), only 1-2% of adolescents with serious emotional or behavioural problems sought formal help. In other words, 98-99% of adolescents with serious problems do not seek formal help. In high-income countries, the figures are significantly higher but still limited (6-7% in Greece, Israel and Japan, and 21-25% in Norway and Finland).
“Interestingly, the only countries where we found significant differences between girls and boys in terms of unmet needs were Norway and Finland, where girls were more likely than boys to seek formal support,” Mori points out.
Global need for mental health awareness and literacy programs
The survey also found that informal sources of support are widespread among adolescents and are the primary source of support in many countries, particularly in low-income countries.
Andre Thrandel, MD, PhD, leader of the EACMHS, said the widespread use of informal sources of support, especially in low-income countries, highlights the global need for mental health awareness and literacy programs.
“Cross-cultural studies on adolescent mental health such as this one are important because most research on mental health comes from high-income Western countries. Most studies include less than 10 percent of the adolescent population, so there are large knowledge gaps.”
“Perhaps the most striking result is how important informal sources of support such as teachers, friends and parents are, highlighting the importance of promoting culturally sensitive mental health awareness and literacy programmes globally,” Prof Saulander said.
Further information: Yuko Mori et al, Unmet needs in mental health care among adolescents in Asia and Europe, European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (2024). DOI: 10.1007/s00787-024-02472-0
Provided by University of Turku
Source: Study Finds High Unmet Need for Mental Health Care Among Adolescents in Asia and Europe (July 1, 2024) Retrieved July 2, 2024 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-07-high-unmet-mental-health-adolescents.html
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