When do pupils talk about their problems? Explaining pupils’ intentions to seek help from school social work services

Abstract

School social work aims to be a low threshold point of contact and advice for pupils. In practice, however, pupils often avoid seeking help when needed. Although the factors that influence help-seeking are well established in the literature, there has been very little research on this for school social work. Adapting the behavioral model of health services use, the present study addresses this gap by examining individual and contextual factors promoting or inhibiting pupils’ intentions to seek help from social work services directly integrated into their schools. A total of 4,420 pupils (grades 5 to 9) from 32 schools in Switzerland completed a questionnaire in which they were asked how likely they would be to seek help when they face a family problem, peer problem, or difficulties in everyday school life they cannot solve on their own. Results from the multi-level analysis reveal that, overall, pupils’ intentions to seek help are rather low. Predisposing factors and enabling factors influence willingness to seek help, with trust emerging as the most important facilitator. It is therefore important that all pupils can establish a trusting relationship with their school social worker and gain positive experiences with him or her.