Despite the growth in school-based mental health services (SBMHS), rates of mental health help-seeking among adolescents remain low, especially for ethnic minority youth. This study examined factors associated with adolescents’ help-seeking of mental health services among a sample of 369 racially diverse high school students (age M = 15.5 years, SD = 0.72, 81.3% were ethnic minorities). We examined the relationships among mental health literacy for depression, knowledge barriers related to services and providers, perceived stigmatization by others, emotional/behavioral difficulties, and actual help-seeking behavior. Logistic regression results showed that adolescents with higher mental health literacy for depression and more emotional/behavioral difficulties are more likely to report seeking help in general and from providers outside of school specifically, but not for services inside of school alone. Asian-American students were less likely to seek help than Caucasian peers. It is important to promote mental health literacy to encourage help-seeking among high school students.
CITATION STYLE
Wang, C., Cramer, K. M., Cheng, H. L., & Do, K. A. (2019). Associations Between Depression Literacy and Help-Seeking Behavior for Mental Health Services Among High School Students. School Mental Health, 11(4), 707–718. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-019-09325-1
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