Facilitators and barriers of mental health help-seeking behaviours among adolescents in Oman: a cross-sectional study

Figures & data

Table 1. Participants’ socio-demographic characteristics (N = 424).

Variable	n	%		n	%
Gender			Visiting psychologist
Male	236	55.7	No	381	89.9
Female	188	44.3	Yes	43	10.1
Mother’s level of education			Father’s level of education
Illiterate	57	13.4	Illiterate	49	11.6
Elementary	70	16.5	Elementary	35	8.3
Secondary	146	34.4	Secondary	173	40.8
University	145	34.2	University	167	39.4
Mother’s employment			Father’s employment
Not employed	102	24.1	Not employed	176	41.5
Employed	322	75.9	Employed	248	58.5
Self-report of mental illness			Family member with a mental illness
No	419	98.8	No	400	94.3
Yes	5	1.2	Yes	24	5.7
Monthly family income (OMR)			History of chronic illness
Less than 500	110	25.9	No	403	95.0
500 − 999	137	32.3	Yes	21	5.0
1000–1499	138	32.5	Friend with a mental illness
1500 − 2000	39	9.2	No	412	97.2
	M	SD	Yes	12	2.8
Age	16.7	1.0	–	–	–

Table 2. Sample characteristics (N = 424).

Scale	Mean	SD	Min–max (range)
Knowledge related to mental illness	12.2	2.9	4–18 (14)
Attitudes related to mental illness	34.2	7.9	12–60 (48)
Mental help-seeking attitudes	37.3	13.7	9–63 (54)
Mental help-seeking intention	13.3	5.8	3–21 (18)
Help-seeker stereotype	43.3	16.2	12–84 (72)

Table 3. Bivariate analysis to MHSAS; MHSIS; HSSS.

	MHSAS		MHSIS		HSSS
Variable	Mean (SD)	p Value	Mean	p Value	Mean (SD)	p Value
Gender		.009		<.01		.067
Male	38.9 (13.4)		14.2 (5.9)		42.0 (18.0)
Female	35.4 (13.9)		12.2 (5.5)		44.8 (13.4)
Education		.701		.020		<.01
10th	38.3 (14.2)		11.9 (6.0)		36.9 (14.7)
11th	37.4 (12.9)		13.6 (5.7)		46.2 (16.6)
12th	36.9 (13.9)		13.8 (5.7)		44.9 (16.0)
Mother’s level of education		.110		.785		.063
Illiterate	39.2 (12.7)		13.5 (6.2)		39.9 (18.3)
Elementary	33.8 (12.8)		12.7 (5.9)		44.3 (17.0)
Secondary	37.5 (14.1)		13.5 (6.1)		45.8 (17.0)
University	38.1 (14.1)		13.4 (5.4)		41.8 (14.0)
Father’s level of education		.824		.865		.094
Illiterate	38.0 (12.4)		13.6 (6.1)		37.8 (18.2)
Elementary	35.4 (17.3)		12.9 (5.4)		42.8 (18.1)
Secondary	37.3 (13.4)		13.5 (6.0)		45.2 (16.7)
University	37.6 (13.6)		13.1 (5.6)		43.0 (14.2)
Mother’s employment		.125		.659		.161
Not employed	35.5 (15.9)		13.1 (6.5)		41.2 (17.9)
Employed	37.9 (12.9)		13.4 (5.6)		43.9 (15.6)
Father’s employment		.882		.003		.430
Not employed	37.3 (13.6)		12.3(5.2)		43.8 (18.0)
Employed	37.5 (13.9)		14.0 (6.1)		42.6 (13.2)
Self-report of mental illness		.165		.159		.710
No	37.2 (13.7)		13.3 (5.8)		43.3 (16.3)
Yes	45.8 (13.8)		17.0 (5.0)		40.6 (10.6)
Family member with a mental illness		.292		.947		.019
No	37.2 (13.9)		13.3 (5.8)		42.8 (16.0)
Yes	40.2 (10.5)		13.4 (5.7)		50.8 (17.4)
Friend with a mental illness		.034		.294		.557
No	37.1 (13.8)		13.3 (5.8)		43.2 (16.3)
Yes	45.6 (8.3)		15.1 (5.4)		46.0 (14.2)
History of chronic illness		.274		.003		.009
No	37.5 (13.4)		13.5 (5.8)		43.7 (16.1)
Yes	34.1 (19.1)		9.6 (6.1)		34.2 (16.1)
Visiting mental health specialist		.037		.136		.572
No	36.9 (13.7)		13.2 (5.9)		43.4 (16.1)
Yes	41.5 (12.8)		15.4 (5.1)		41.1 (18.1)
Monthly family income (OMR)		.005		<.001		.406
Less than 500	39.2 (14.3)		14.8 (5.9)		42.5 (18.2)
500–999	34.4 (14.8)		12.2 (5.7)		42.2 (15.4)
1000–1499	37.6 (12.4)		12.5 (5.8)		45.1 (14.8)
1500–2000	42.0 (10.1)		16.2 (4.2)		43.0 (17.5)

MHSAS: mental help-seeking attitudes scale; MHSIS: mental help-seeking intention scale; HSSS: help-seeker stereotype scale. Significant at p < 0.05.

Table 4. Correlations between knowledge and attitudes related to mental illness, mental help-seeking attitudes, mental help-seeking intention, and help-seeker stereotype.

Variables	1	2	3	4	5	6
1. Knowledge related to mental illness	1.000	0.023	.299**	.205**	−0.049	0.027
2. Attitudes related to mental illness	0.023	1.000	.231**	.192**	.207**	−0.036
3. Mental help-seeking attitudes	.299**	.231**	1.000	.587**	0.006	−0.002
4. Mental help-seeking intention	.205**	.192**	.587**	1.000	0.086	.104*
5. Help-seeker stereotype	−0.049	.207**	0.006	0.086	1.000	.140**
6. Age	0.027	−0.036	−0.002	.104*	.140**	1.000

*p < .05; **p < .01.

Table 5. The Theme/subthemes of perceived barriers and facilitator factors of seeking professional mental help.

Facilitators		Barriers
Theme/subthemes	N	Theme/subthemes	N
Having an adequate support system		Feelings of anxiety, shame, and mistrust
Family support	23	Doctors will not solve my problem	110
Friends’ support	13	Stigma of being diagnosed with mental illness	98
Being positive and knowledgeable about mental illness		Stigma of visiting mental health professionals	126
Positive knowledge about the importance of mental health among adolescents, their peers, and parents	344	Fear for leaking of the information regarding their condition	120
Positive Knowledge about the importance of mental health among parents	150	Low self-confidence to contact healthcare professionals	85
Being confident of good results	187	Lack of family support
The reputation of the mental health care system		Lack of family support due to Parents poor knowledge	130
Mental health professionals are competent	100	Lack of financial ability	80
Mental health professionals keep the secretes and maintain confidentiality	75	Time consuming	25
Mental health professionals have a good communication skills	44	–	–

Figure 1. Contributing factors, facilitators, and barriers towards help-seeking behaviours.

Data availability statement

The SPSS data used to support the findings of this study are restricted by the Research and Ethics Committee in the College of Nursing at Sultan Qaboos University to protect patient privacy. Data are available from Dr. Omar Al Omari, [email protected], for researchers who meet the criteria for access to confidential data.