Abstract
AimThe aim of this study was to explore the online distress and help-seeking behavior of youths in Hong Kong.MethodsA cross-sectional telephone-based survey was conducted among 1,010 young people in Hong Kong. Logistic regression analysis was then performed to identify the factors associated with those who reported expressing emotional distress online and the differences in help-seeking behavior among four groups of youths: (1) the non-distressed (reference) group; (2) “Did not seek help” group; (3) “Seek informal help” group; and (4) “Seek formal help” group.ResultsThe seeking of help and expression of distress online were found to be associated with a higher lifetime prevalence of suicidal ideation. The “Seek formal help” and “Did not seek help” groups had a similar risk profile, including a higher prevalence of suicidal ideation, non-suicidal self-injury, unsafe sex, and being bullied. The “Seek informal help” group was more likely to express distress online, which indicates that this population of youths may be accessible to professional identification. Approximately 20% of the distressed youths surveyed had not sought help despite expressing their distress online.ImplicationThe study’s results indicate that helping professionals have opportunities to develop strategic engagement methods that make use of social media to help distressed youths.
Highlights
Mental health of young people demands the attention of both practitioners and policymakers, as adolescence is the period in which many mental health disorders are first detected
The Gateway Provider Model (GPM) extends the Network Episode Model (NEM) to describe the role of the “gateway provider” in influencing service use by young people
4% of the respondents indicated that they do not use any of four online social platforms (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, online forums such as HK Golden, and blogs such as WordPress), whereas 71% said they use these platforms at least once a day
Summary
Mental health of young people demands the attention of both practitioners and policymakers, as adolescence is the period in which many mental health disorders are first detected. The behavioral model, which views healthcare decisions as a rational process [3], emphasizes the physical barriers to mental health service access, such as demographic factors (e.g., receiving a low level of education or being a member of an ethnic minority) and a lack of enabling resources (e.g., a lack of service information and inaccessible service locations) [4]. Another widely used model, the Health Belief Model (HBM), suggests that healthcare decisions are based on self-perception rather than an objective medical condition [5]. Gateway providers direct youths toward and connect them with services, and the GPM highlights the important influence that helping professionals exert over service utilization [8]
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