Mental Health Help-Seeking Intentions and Preferences of Rural Chinese Adults

PurposeWe aimed to investigate mental health help-seeking intentions and preferences of rural Chinese adults and determine predictors of the intentions.MethodsA total of 2052 representative rural residents aged 18–60 completed a cross-sectional survey by face-to-face interviews. The survey included seven questions asking about respondents’ help-seeking intentions and preferences, and a series of internationally validated instruments to assess self-perceived health status, depression, anxiety, alcohol abuse, mental health literacy, and attitudes towards mental illness.ResultsNearly 80% of respondents were willing to seek psychological help if needed, and 72.4% preferred to get help from medical organizations, yet only 12% knew of any hospitals or clinics providing such help. A multivariate analysis of help-seeking intention revealed that being female, having lower education, higher social health, higher mental health knowledge, and physical causal attribution for depression were positive predictors of help-seeking intention.ConclusionA huge gap exists between the relatively higher intention for help-seeking and significantly lower knowledge of helpful resources. Predictors of help-seeking intention for mental problems in the current study are consistent with previous studies. Interventions to increase help-seeking for mental problems by Chinese rural adults may be best served by focusing on increasing public awareness of help sources, as well as improving residents’ mental health literacy and social health, with special focus on males and those more educated.研究目的 本研究旨在调查中国农村成年人的心理健康求助意愿与偏好，并明确该意愿的预测因子。 研究方法 共计2052名具有代表性的18~60岁农村居民通过面对面访谈（face-to-face interviews）完成了横断面调查（cross-sectional survey）。本次调查包含7道与受访者求助意愿及偏好相关的问题，同时采用一系列经过国际验证的评估工具，以评估其自我感知健康状况（self-perceived health status）、抑郁（depression）、焦虑（anxiety）、酒精滥用（alcohol abuse）、心理健康素养（mental health literacy）以及对精神疾病的态度。 研究结果 近80%的受访者表示在有需求时愿意寻求心理帮助，72.4%的受访者偏好从医疗机构获取帮助，但仅有12%的受访者知晓可提供此类服务的医院或诊所。针对求助意愿的多变量分析（multivariate analysis）结果表明，女性身份、较低的受教育水平、更高的社会健康水平、更丰富的心理健康知识储备，以及将抑郁归因为躯体因素，均为心理健康求助意愿的正向预测因子。 研究结论 本研究中，中国农村成年人相对较高的求助意愿与极低的心理健康服务资源知晓度之间存在巨大差距。本研究识别的心理问题求助意愿影响因子与既往研究结果一致。针对提升中国农村成年人心理问题求助行为的干预措施，可优先聚焦于提升公众对求助资源的认知，同时改善居民的心理健康素养与社会健康水平，并重点关注男性及受教育程度较高的群体。