Parental Factors for Mental Health Service Engagement Among Chinese Young Adults.

Abstract

Mental health service disengagement can have devastating consequences for people in need of mental health services. This study explored parental factors in mental health service engagement among Chinese young adult mental health service users. Seventy-two Chinese young adults, aged from 18 to 26years, were recruited from a Hong Kong community mental health service center. Nearly three-fifths (58.3%) of participants were female and over two-fifths (44.2%) attended college. Results of logistic regression analysis showed that Chinese young adult mental health service users with high levels of perceived need for services and low levels of perceived parental involvement in mental health services were more likely to engage in mental health services. However, concerns about the parent-child relationship, perceived parental encouragement and perceived parental demand for mental health service use were not associated with mental health service engagement. The practice implications of these results are discussed in light of the Chinese context.