Intentions to Seek Mental Health Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Chinese Pregnant Women With Probable Depression or Anxiety: Cross-sectional, Web-Based Survey Study

Abstract

Background Mental health problems are prevalent among pregnant women, and it is expected that their mental health will worsen during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the underutilization of mental health services among pregnant women has been widely documented. Objective We aimed to identify factors that are associated with pregnant women’s intentions to seek mental health services. We specifically assessed pregnant women who were at risk of mental health problems in mainland China. Methods A web-based survey was conducted from February to March, 2020 among 19,515 pregnant women who were recruited from maternal health care centers across various regions of China. A subsample of 6248 pregnant women with probable depression (ie, those with a score of ≥10 on the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire) or anxiety (ie, those with a score of ≥5 on the 7-item General Anxiety Disorder Scale) was included in our analysis. Results More than half (3292/6248, 52.7%) of the participants reported that they did not need mental health services. Furthermore, 28.3% (1770/6248) of participants felt that they needed mental health services, but had no intentions of seeking help, and only 19% (1186/6248) felt that they needed mental health services and had intentions of seek help. The results from our multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age, education level, and gestational age were factors of not seeking help. However, COVID-19–related lockdowns in participants’ cities of residence, social support during the COVID-19 pandemic, and trust in health care providers were protective factors of participants’ intentions to seek help from mental health services. Conclusions Interventions that promote seeking help for mental health problems among pregnant women should also promote social support from health care providers and trust between pregnant women and their care providers.

Analyzing Predictors of Control Measures and Psychosocial Problems Associated with COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Eight Countries

“…In terms of age and educational level as significantly predicted by our study, recent literature also suggests that education level, age, sex, and social condition had a significant association with knowledge about COVID-19 [41]. However, COVID-19-related lockdowns in participants' cities of residence, social support during the COVID-19 pandemic, and trust in health care providers were found to be protective factors of participants' intentions to seek help from mental health services, and this is consistent with our susceptibility score [42]. Similar to our findings, the more recent findings have also consistently confirmed strong associations between the pandemic and increased psychosomatic symptoms and negative emotions [43].…”

Predictors of Professional Help-Seeking Intention Toward Depression Among Community-Dwelling Populations: A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis

“…In Australia, 40% of respondents would seek help from psychologists and 34% from psychiatrists ( 19 ), and the rate was 22.8 and 24.9%, respectively, in Hong Kong, China ( 20 ). Another survey in China among pregnant women with probable depression or anxiety during COVID-19 indicated that only 19% of the sample intended to seek professional help ( 21 ).…”

Mental healthcare-seeking behavior of women in Bangladesh: content analysis of a social media platform

“…Moreover, experiencing IPV and women’s economic dependency might also affect their care-seeking behavior in our study, which also corroborates with past literature [ 61 ]. Besides only a few women reported visiting professionals but with a disrupted therapeutic continuation due to low mental health literacy and a lack of understanding of psychosomatic symptoms [ 17 , 84 , 85 ]. Furthermore, our study found that women had limited access to quality mental health services, which is a significant factor in the higher mental health burden and treatment gap among women in Bangladesh [ 84 , 86 ].…”

“…Besides only a few women reported visiting professionals but with a disrupted therapeutic continuation due to low mental health literacy and a lack of understanding of psychosomatic symptoms [ 17 , 84 , 85 ]. Furthermore, our study found that women had limited access to quality mental health services, which is a significant factor in the higher mental health burden and treatment gap among women in Bangladesh [ 84 , 86 ]. This lack of professional mental health services in other developing countries are also caused by low mental health literacy, stigmatized attitudes, low affordability, and a workforce shortage [ 85 , 87 , 88 ].…”