Help-seeking outcome expectations and intentions among people with varying depression severity: results from a two-study project

The goal of this two-study project was to obtain a rich understanding of outcome expectations regarding seeking help for depression from a professional, examined through a cognitive theory of depression lens. We conducted belief elicitation (<i>N</i> = 105) and survey studies (<i>N</i> = 564) among adults with varying levels of depression severity. The two studies produced three noteworthy findings. First, whereas participants with heightened depression anticipated a larger number of negative outcomes from seeking help than participants with less severe depression, they did not report different kinds of outcomes than participants with less severe depression. Second, relatively heightened depression was associated with lower perceived likelihood of positive outcomes of help-seeking, higher perceived likelihood of negative outcomes and lower intentions to seek help. Third, positive outcome expectations were strongly associated with intentions to seek help, whereas negative outcome expectations were not. We discuss the implications of these findings for interventions and research on outcome expectations.