Prevention
Parental coping with emotions as a predictor of help-seeking behavior and barriers to accessing psychotherapy in adolescents starting CBT
Simone Pfeiffer, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Researcher
Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology and Psychotherapy, RPTU Landau
Landau, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany
Tina In-Albon, Ph.D.
Professor
Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology and Psychotherapy, RPTU Landau
Landau, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany
Objective: Despite the efficacy of cognitive behavioral psychotherapy, the gap between prevalence rates of mental disorders and treatment rates is high, especially in adolescence. However, adolescence is a critical period for the manifestation of mental disorders. Only around 21% of adolescents with mental disorders seek professional help. Although early treatment reduces the risk for comorbidity and the risk of chronic manifestation of psychological symptoms. The assessment of barriers to access psychotherapy in adolescents is therefore an important step to develop and improve interventions, which aim to facilitate professional help-seeking behavior for mental disorders. As parents are a key gatekeeper to treatment access, it is important to evaluate their influence on barriers and facilitators to accessing treatment.
Method: A total of 268 adolescents starting CBT aged between 14 and 21 years (M = 17.0 years, SD = 2.43; 76% identified as female, 24% as male, and 0% as nonbinary) participated. Attitudes toward psychotherapy were assessed with the Adolescent’s Barriers to Accessing Psychotherapy Scale (ABAP). Parental coping strategies were assessed with the Coping with Children’s Negative Emotions Scale–Adolescent Perception (CCNES-AP).
Results: 51% of the participants reported a help-seeking latency of 1 to 4 years. Supportive parental strategies for coping with children’s negative emotions predicted a lower help-seeking latency. Non-supportive strategies predicted negative attitudes toward psychotherapy and higher help-seeking latency.
Conclusions: Barriers accessing psychotherapy are still highly relevant at the beginning of treatment and should be addressed e.g., during psychoeducation or with cognitive interventions.
Parents should be informed and encouraged in the development of supportive strategies for dealing with negative emotions, herewith encouraging professional help-seeking behavior.
