To Whom Do Adolescents Turn for Help? Differences between Disturbed and Nondisturbed Adolescents

doi:10.1097/00004583-199107000-00015

Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

Volume 30, Issue 4, July 1991, Pages 623-630

https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-199107000-00015 Get rights and content

Abstract

The focus of this investigation was to 1) identify those adolescents experiencing distress; 2) examine the formal and informal helping agents that adolescents seek out for help for emotional problems; and 3) describe adolescents' perceptions of the helpfulness of selected helping agents. Adolescents (N = 497) from three high schools in a large metropolitan area in the Midwest, representing a broad socioeconomic spectrum, were administered instruments related to self-image, delinquency, symptomatology, and help seeking. The prevalence rate of disturbance was 22.3%. Results show that disturbed adolescents sought help from alcohol/drug abuse centers, teenage drop-in centers, and mental health professionals more frequently than nondisturbed adolescents. In additional, both groups frequently sought help from parents and friends and perceived this help as beneficial. Implications of these findings for the development of adolescent mental health services are discussed.

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: This work was supported in part by a research grant awarded to Dr. Offer from the Chicago Community Trust, 1985-1988, and by research grant No. RO1MH42901 awarded to Dr. Howard from the National Institute of Mental Health. This paper was prepared while Dr. Schonert was a postdoctoral Fellow in the Clinical Research Training Program in Adolescence, jointly sponsored by the Department of Psychiatry at Northwestern University, and the Committee on Human Development at the University of Chicago, and funded by an institutional training grant from the National Institute of Mental Health 5T32 MH14668-14.

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ORIGINAL ARTICLETo Whom Do Adolescents Turn for Help? Differences between Disturbed and Nondisturbed Adolescents

Abstract

J. Am. Acad. Child Psychiatry

J. Pediatr.

J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry

J. Adolesc. Health Care

Manual for the Youth Self-Report and Profile

Estimates of the prevalences of childhood maladjustment in a community survey in Puerto Rico

Arch. Gen. Psychiatry

The divided self in adolescence

Human Development

Epidemiological investigations of mental disorders of children in Reykjavik, Iceland

Scand. J. Psycol.

Children's perceptions of deviance and disorder

Child Dev.

Being Adolescent: Conflict and Turmoil in the Teenage Years

SCL-90R Manual

The Adolescent Experience

Demographic differences in adolescents' health concerns and perceptions of helping agents

Journal of Clinical Child Psychology

Comprehensive health care for high-risk adolescents: an evaluation study

Am. J. Public Health

Psychometric research on children and adolescents

Epidemiology and course of psychiatric disorders in school-age children—Results of a longitudinal study

J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry

Health concerns and health-related behaviors of adolescents

Can. Med. Assoc. J.

Psychiatric disorders in the young adolescent

Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine

Adolescent health needs II. Utilization of health care by adolescents

Adolescence

A survey of psychological and social concerns of rural adolescents

Adolescence

Psychiatric disorders in a community sample of adolescents

Am. J. Psychiatry

Childhood development as a predictor of adaptation in adulthood

Genetic Psychology Monographs

A community health survey of Heyfield, Victoria

Med. J. Aust.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE
To Whom Do Adolescents Turn for Help? Differences between Disturbed and Nondisturbed Adolescents