Predictors of Mental Health Help-Seeking During COVID-19: Social Support, Emotion Regulation, and Mental Health Symptoms

Abstract

Little is known about factors that contribute to mental health help-seeking during disasters beyond attitudes toward counseling. The global pandemic dramatically impacted individuals, families, and communities worldwide. The pandemic led to significant disruptions to family routines, and evidence suggests an increase in instances of mental health symptoms, like depression and anxiety, and poor utilization of mental health services. To better understand psychological factors associated with help-seeking during the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers surveyed respondents (n = 1,533 at time 1) about their mental health and help-seeking using Amazon's MTurk platform. The results indicated that individuals with higher levels of anxiety rate their likelihood of help-seeking as higher and those who do seek psychological help report higher levels of depression. Further, those who began new treatment for behavioral health difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic reported lower social support and less clarity about how they felt (specifically, emotional clarity when upset). Implications for clinical researchers and public health are discussed.

Burdens of Apprentices Caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic and How They Deal with Them: A Qualitative Study Using Content Analysis One-Year Post-Breakout

“…Additionally, the lockdowns made it even more difficult for people to access services from mental health professionals (face-to-face) and some psychosocial services were also simply unavailable. Apart from that, studies also showed that seeking professional help during the period of was more common in women, younger people, people with higher education [ 61 ] and those with higher levels of anxiety or depression [ 62 ].…”

Mental health experiences in 2021 for adults with disabilities who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.

“…During the pandemic, persons with higher levels of self-rated anxiety reported higher likelihoods of seeking mental health services while those who did seek help reported higher levels of depression (Tambling et al, 2023). Nascent research has found that persons with disabilities (Wang et al, 2022) and persons who are LGBTQ (Akré et al, 2021) experienced higher rates of depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic than persons without disabilities, yet there are no studies to date examining mental health disparities experienced by persons with disabilities who are LGBT.…”

Perceived Need for Mental Health Services Among Healthcare Workers During the Coronavirus Disease-19 Pandemic in Turkey: A Multicenter Cross-sectional Study

“…Studies on predictors of requiring and utilizing mental health services during emergency states are relatively scarce. 6 Although psychological health status is the primary determinant, 7 recent findings highlight a decrease in mental health service use even in patients with a previous diagnosis of mental disorders during the pandemic. 8 Thus, additional factors, including sociodemographic characteristics, physical health and COVID-19 history, social relationships, and environmental conditions, may have a role.…”

“… 8 Thus, additional factors, including sociodemographic characteristics, physical health and COVID-19 history, social relationships, and environmental conditions, may have a role. 6 Regarding HCWs, exposure to occupational COVID-19 risks and the resulting anxiety and fear may also contribute to the situation. Besides features related to requiring mental health services, some characteristics may also serve as barriers or be altered by needing and/or utilizing mental health services.…”