Help seeking for mental health among the youth population in Hong Kong : application of the theory of planned behavior and the role of stigma

Abstract

Despite the prevalence of mental illnesses among the youth population in Hong Kong, mental health services were not very well utilized. The present study investigated the help-seeking intention of young people in Hong Kong by supplementing the theory of planned behavior (TPB) with self-stigma, public stigma and mental health status. Qualitative measures were used to gain further insight into the help-seeking barriers perceived by young people and their opinions on the traditional and new mental health service models. Results showed that the extended TPB model could better explain the variance of help-seeking intention. Qualitative findings provided additional evidence on perceived barriers such as public stigma, high financial cost and pressure from peers and family. The implications of the quantitative and qualitative findings on the future development of mental health services in Hong Kong targeting the youth population were highlighted and discussed.