Citation

Brás M, Cunha AM, Carmo C, Nunes C. Soc. Sci. (Basel) 2022; 11(7).

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/socsci11070284

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Mental health is an essential element of wellness; however, some populations are more vulnerable to mental health problems. Suicide is the second-highest cause of death in young people and help-seeking unwillingness is a significant obstacle to mental health interventions. Young people are especially reluctant to seek help and negative attitudes stand out as help-seeking barriers, high-lighting the importance of evaluating these constructs. The Inventory of Attitudes toward Seeking Mental Health Services (IASMHS) is a measure that evaluates help-seeking attitudes; nevertheless, it lacks applicability in Portuguese youth. This study aims to explore the psychometric characteristics of the IASMHS in 750 Portuguese adolescents (52.3% female, Mage = 14.67), through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and reliability and validity analyses.

RESULTS suggest that a three-factor structure was adequate, those factors being help-seeking propensity, indifference to stigma, and psychological openness. The IASMHS was shortened to 20 items and revealed satisfactory properties regarding internal consistency, convergent/discriminant validity, and temporal stability. These findings validate the IASMHS as an adequate tool in the assessment of young people's help-seeking attitudes. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Language: en

Keywords

adolescent; mental health; suicide; help-seeking; protective factor; psychometric study