Helpful coping strategies and help-seeking behaviors for mental health problems: a vignette study in young people and professionals

Understanding young people’s and professionals’ attitudes towards ways to deal with mental health problems is important to overcome barriers to care. We investigated the short- and long-term perceived helpfulness of a list of coping strategies and help-seeking behaviors in a vignette study. Differences between stakeholder groups were also assessed. Belgian youth (N = 919), aged 16–24 years, and professionals (N = 569) in youth work, social welfare services, and mental health services took part in the study. Young people were either recruited from a random community sample (N = 5000), a school/university setting or via social media. For professionals convenience sampling was used (mailing list, informing relevant services in the sector). Each participant read one out of six vignettes describing a young person with mental health complaints and the help that young person had received. Descriptive statistics were used to assess consensus about perceived helpfulness. Expectations of the impact of mental health interventions were also assessed. Regression analyses were performed to examine differences between stakeholder groups. Young people showed positive attitudes towards the helpfulness of professional resources. For the short term, they slightly preferred some personal coping strategies and informal sources of help over professional resources. Performing a hobby and talking to a confidant were found the most helpful coping strategy and help-seeking behavior, respectively, by young people both for the short and the long term. Professionals’ views were mostly consistent with those of young people. Nevertheless, and somewhat counterintuitive, young people had more positive expectations of the impact of professional help than professionals themselves. Whilst informal strategies still play an important role when dealing with mental health complaints, young people showed generally favorable attitudes towards helpfulness and particularly the impact of professional resources. The list of helpful personal coping strategies identified in this study may provide a focus for implementation in first-line care and for future empirical studies. We highlight the need for educating young people about where to find professional help, and what treatment involves to set realistic expectations.