Mental health help seeking among affluent adolescents

There exists an alarming gap between mental health service need and service utilization among American youth. This investigation examines pathways to service use within the "culture of affluence" (Luthar, 2003) which carries a unique set of risk factors that may interfere with healthy psychological adjustment Study participants included 232 11th grade students from an affluent, public school in the Northeast Data assessing internalizing symptoms, externalizing behaviors, attachment to parents academic achievement, and help-seeking attitudes and behaviors were obtained via self-report, teacher-report, and objective measures.; Descriptive statistics revealed that students are more likely to seek counsel from informal adult resources, rather than formally trained or licensed mental health providers. Despite usage of both informal and formal support services, 5--15% of girls and boys who reported clinically significant elevations in one or more domains of psychological maladjustment have never received services.; Among girls, self-reported internalized distress was negatively linked with parent communication and positively linked with parent alienation, personal resistance to help-seeking, and parent displeasure at help-seeking (p>.001). Self-reported externalizing behaviors among girls were positively linked with alienation from parents (p<.001).; Among boys, self-reported internalized distress was positively associated with alienation from parents (p>.001). Self-reported externalizing behaviors among boys were positively linked to alienation from parents and negatively linked to open-minded personal attitudes towards help-seeking. Teacher-rated externalizing behaviors among boys were negatively associated with parent communication, parent alienation, and personal attitudes towards help-seeking (p<.01). Academic grades were positively linked to positive attitudes towards help-seeking and negatively linked to personal resistance towards help-seeking (p<.05).; Multivariate main effects were observed for level of distress and help-seeking behavior. Distressed students reported significantly higher levels of drug use and parent alienation and lower levels of parent communication than nondistressed students. Those who have received mental health services reported higher levels of parent alienation than those who have never received help.; Study assets and limitations as well as directions for future research are discussed. An evolution of the role of mental health professionals is conceptualized to augment the use of professional mental health services where appropriate, and to educate informal sources to appropriately address youth's social-emotional needs.