Mental health and help-seeking behavior within the United States technology industry: Investigating workplace support

Abstract

Mental health illness within the workplace is a growing concern nationwide. However, few studies assess behavioral factors associated with help-seeking behavior, such as employee-to-employer disclosure and perceptions of support. Moreover, currently, no studies investigate help-seeking behavior among United States technology industry employees. We employed a population health analysis in understanding technology employee perceptions of workplace support related to help-seeking behavior for mental health from 2017 to 2019. Our findings indicate that disclosing to an employer was significantly associated with help-seeking behavior (aOR = 4.0, 95% CI: 2.6, 6.1), implying that emphasis is placed on employee-centered behavior for help-seeking and mental health.

Keywords:

• Mental health
• help-seeking behavior
• technology industry
• organizational and employer support

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge OSMI for the creation and administration of the surveys used in this analysis. The organization had no input regarding study design, data analysis, and the publication process for this study.

Disclosure statement

The authors have indicated no conflicts of interest.