IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v12y2015i4p3741-3755d47602.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

When Self-Reliance Is Not Safe: Associations between Reduced Help-Seeking and Subsequent Mental Health Symptoms in Suicidal Adolescents

Author

Listed:
  • Christa D. Labouliere

    (Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, The New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University Medical Center, 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10032, USA)

  • Marjorie Kleinman

    (Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, The New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University Medical Center, 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10032, USA)

  • Madelyn S. Gould

    (Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, The New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University Medical Center, 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10032, USA)

Abstract

The majority of suicidal adolescents have no contact with mental health services, and reduced help-seeking in this population further lessens the likelihood of accessing treatment. A commonly-reported reason for not seeking help is youths’ perception that they should solve problems on their own. In this study, we explore associations between extreme self-reliance behavior ( i.e. , solving problems on your own all of the time), help-seeking behavior, and mental health symptoms in a community sample of adolescents. Approximately 2150 adolescents, across six schools, participated in a school-based suicide prevention screening program, and a subset of at-risk youth completed a follow-up interview two years later. Extreme self-reliance was associated with reduced help-seeking, clinically-significant depressive symptoms, and serious suicidal ideation at the baseline screening. Furthermore, in a subset of youth identified as at-risk at the baseline screening, extreme self-reliance predicted level of suicidal ideation and depressive symptoms two years later even after controlling for baseline symptoms. Given these findings, attitudes that reinforce extreme self-reliance behavior may be an important target for youth suicide prevention programs. Reducing extreme self-reliance in youth with suicidality may increase their likelihood of appropriate help-seeking and concomitant reductions in symptoms.

Suggested Citation

  • Christa D. Labouliere & Marjorie Kleinman & Madelyn S. Gould, 2015. "When Self-Reliance Is Not Safe: Associations between Reduced Help-Seeking and Subsequent Mental Health Symptoms in Suicidal Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-15, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:12:y:2015:i:4:p:3741-3755:d:47602
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/12/4/3741/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/12/4/3741/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wyman, P.A. & Brown, C.H. & LoMurray, M. & Schmeelk-Cone, K. & Petrova, M. & Yu, Q. & Walsh, E. & Tu, X. & Wang, W., 2010. "An outcome evaluation of the sources of strength suicide prevention program delivered by adolescent peer leaders in high schools," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 100(9), pages 1653-1661.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xiaojun Liu & Dongdong Jiang & Xiangfan Chen & Anran Tan & Yitan Hou & Meikun He & Yuanan Lu & Zongfu Mao, 2018. "Mental Health Status and Associated Contributing Factors among Gay Men in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-11, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tanya Manchanda & Alan Stein & Mina Fazel, 2023. "Investigating the Role of Friendship Interventions on the Mental Health Outcomes of Adolescents: A Scoping Review of Range and a Systematic Review of Effectiveness," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-24, January.
    2. Sekhar, Deepa L. & Gebremariam, Acham & Waxmonsky, James G. & Molinari, Alissa M. & Rosen, Perri & Clark, Sarah J., 2023. "Parent opinion on peer support programs to promote adolescent mental health," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    3. Omar Baza-Arce & Angélica Juárez-Loya & Catalina González-Forteza, 2024. "Developmental Assets and Their Relationship to Suicidal Behavior in Mexican Young Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(8), pages 1-11, August.
    4. Alberto Valido & Matthew Rivas-Koehl & Dane Rivas-Koehl & Dorothy L. Espelage & Timothy I. Lawrence & Luz E. Robinson, 2022. "Latent Class Analysis of Victimization Patterns and Associated Protective Factors among LGBTQ Youth," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-20, August.
    5. Zimmerman, Gregory M. & Rees, Carter & Posick, Chad & Zimmerman, Lori A., 2016. "The power of (Mis)perception: Rethinking suicide contagion in youth friendship networks," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 31-38.
    6. Brann, Kristy L. & Baker, Derek & Smith-Millman, Mills K. & Watt, Sarah J. & DiOrio, Courtney, 2021. "A meta-analysis of suicide prevention programs for school-aged youth," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    7. Berny, Lauren M. & Tanner-Smith, Emily E., 2024. "Interpersonal violence and suicide risk: Examining buffering effects of school and community connectedness," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    8. Victoria Banyard & Kimberly J. Mitchell & Michele L. Ybarra, 2021. "Exposure to Self-Directed Violence: Understanding Intention to Help and Helping Behaviors among Adolescents and Emerging Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-17, August.
    9. De Luca, Susan M. & Yan, Yueqi & Johnston, Carol, 2020. "“Can we talk?”: A longitudinal analysis of Latino & non-Hispanic parent-child connectedness & adolescent ideation," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    10. Isabella Pistone & Ulrika Beckman & Erik Eriksson & Helena Lagerlöf & Morten Sager, 2019. "The effects of educational interventions on suicide: A systematic review and meta-analysis," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 65(5), pages 399-412, August.
    11. Madelyn S. Gould & Alison M. Lake & Marjorie Kleinman & Hanga Galfalvy & Saba Chowdhury & Alison Madnick, 2018. "Exposure to Suicide in High Schools: Impact on Serious Suicidal Ideation/Behavior, Depression, Maladaptive Coping Strategies, and Attitudes toward Help-Seeking," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-17, March.
    12. De Luca, Susan M. & Yueqi, Yan & Padilla, Yolanda, 2017. "A longitudinal examination of how mothers' and fathers' mental health and thoughts of death are related to their child's self-reported levels of parental connectedness," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 235-241.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:12:y:2015:i:4:p:3741-3755:d:47602. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.