Where do Jamaican Adolescents Turn for Psychological Help?

• Published in: Child & youth care forum Vol. 41; no. 5; pp. 461 - 477
• Main Author: Jackson Williams, Dahra
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.10.2012; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Access to Health Care; Adolescents; At risk youth; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Child and School Psychology; Delivery Systems; Depression (Psychology); Eating Disorders; Family (Sociological Unit); Focus Groups; Foreign Countries; Guidance; Health Needs; Health Services; Help Seeking; Jamaica; Jamaican people; Korean Americans; Mental Disorders; Mental Health; Mental health care; Mental Health Programs; Mental illness; Negative Attitudes; Original Paper; Patients; Psychological problems; Psychological Services; Psychology; Resistance (Psychology); School Counselors; Social Bias; Social Services; Social support; Stigmatization; Surveys; Symptoms (Individual Disorders); Teachers; Teaching Methods; Jamaica; Caribbean area; Jamaican; Caribbean; Psychological disorders; Adolescent; Help-seeking
• ISSN: 1053-1890; 1573-3319
• DOI: 10.1007/s10566-012-9177-7

Background Stigma about mental health is a significant problem in Jamaica and the wider English-speaking Caribbean. In general, negative attitudes and opinions about mental illness have been found to negatively impact psychological help-seeking among several populations. Objective This study examined Jamaican adolescents’ preferential sources of help for a variety of psychological problems. This study also examined adolescents’ beliefs about the usefulness of seeking help for several psychological issues. Methods Survey data were collected from ( N  = 339) Jamaican male and female adolescents. Results Results of rank ordered data indicate that for many psychological problems, Jamaican adolescents were likely to first turn to friends and family for help. In addition, faith healers, teachers and guidance counselors were consistently identified as the last sources of help among this population. Differences in this pattern were noted when specific descriptions of mental illness were provided versus when left more vague; and between adolescents from upper and lower socioeconomic groups. Discouraging findings reveal that regardless of disorder, adolescents did not believe seeking help would provide any relief from mental health symptoms. Conclusions Jamaican adolescents in general do not think that seeking help for psychological problems would be useful. In spite of this, there are some clinical presentations where adolescents would likely seek help from specific providers based on symptoms experienced. In most cases however, teachers and guidance counselors were a last resort for seeking help. Implications for improving youth access to mental health services, community public health education, and stigma reduction programs are discussed.