Mothers’ and Fathers’ Reluctance to Seek Psychological Help for Their Children

Abstract

We investigated the gap between parents' willingness to seek help for their children and their willingness to refer other parents to help, and the relationship of this gap to gender. Two hundred and eleven parent couples with elementary-school children reported their willingness to seek help from professional and informal sources for a hypothetical problem with their child, and their willingness to refer a friend's child with an identical problem to similar help. Attitudes toward help seeking and parental behaviors were also measured. Findings revealed that parents were more willing to refer a friend's child to professional help than they were to seek such help for their own child, although no gap was found regarding informal help. No gender differences were found regarding willingness to seek help or to refer another, although gender was related to variables that predicted help seeking.

Parents' Guidance Resources during the Identification Process for the Gifted and Talented Students at the Şanlıurfa BİLSEM

“…The rate of PQEs asking for help from the school counselor, and from other experts, shows that the PQE group made efforts to seek and ask for more help than the PNQE However, the PNQE group who sought help pursued a wider range of sources than the PQE. This finding is consistent with the previous research which revealed that parents tend to use more informal sources before seeking professional expert help [43]. Because, in the present study, although parents seem to be willing to use formal sources of help (such as counselors, psychiatrists, and psychologists) as well, the number of parents who seek for expert assistance is only about half of the families in the whole group.…”

Screening for Behavioral Health Issues in Children Enrolled in Massachusetts Medicaid

“…[37][38][39] MassHealth children may not be representative of children with commercial insurance. Additionally, the number of children with unknown race data (39%) found in Medicaid data limits our ability to fully understand the relationship of race to BH issues and screening.…”

Enhancing Family Engagement in Interventions for Mental Health Problems in Youth

“…Parents directly influence this "service gap" by determining whether youth need services as well as where and when to seek them (Raviv, Sharvit, Raviv, & Rosenblat-Stein, 2009). Even when parents gather enough motivation to schedule an initial treatment session, research shows that 15-35% of parents fail to show for first appointments (Ewalt, Cohen, & Harmatz, 1972;Kourany, Garber, & Tornusciolo, 1990).…”

“…Various structural, contextual, and perceptual factors may interfere with initial and sustained treatment participation. Initial parental decisions about whether to seek services are heavily influenced by their beliefs and values regarding the cause of problems and appropriate treatment options, perceived barriers to care, and their past experiences with educational and mental health service systems (Raviv et al, 2009). Socioeconomic disadvantage, ethnic minority status, severity of child dysfunction, parent stress and depression, lack of support (including caring for children and elderly parents), family member resistance, lack of knowledge and skills, and lack of confidence all play a significant role in determining whether a family is able and willing to seek services (McKay et al, 2004;Nock & Kazdin, 2001).…”