ABSTRACT

One in five children suffers from mental illness, yet estimates suggest that for various reasons, 50%-70% of these children are not receiving sufficient care. This study examines how mental illness stigma and parents’ help-seeking for their children interact with community social capital and demographic factors. Parents (N = 104) of children ages three to eight in the Northeastern USA completed a questionnaire that included measures of social capital, mental illness stigma, help-seeking attitudes, and children’s current psychosocial symptoms. The lowest rate of mental illness was among children of high SES. Most children in need were not receiving treatment, which is likely a result of parents not recognizing the symptoms of mental illness. Greater social capital was associated with less stigma and more positive attitudes toward help-seeking. These findings suggest that interventions focused on increasing parents’ knowledge of mental health and increasing social capital within the community will increase effective parental help-seeking for children.

摘要

五分之一的儿童患有精神疾病，但据估计，由于各种原因，这些儿童中有 50%-70% 没有得到足够的照顾。本研究探讨了精神疾病的耻辱和父母为孩子寻求帮助如何与社区社会资本和人口因素相互作用。父母 ( N= 104) 美国东北部的 3 至 8 岁儿童完成了一份问卷，其中包括社会资本、精神疾病污名、求助态度和儿童当前的社会心理症状的测量。精神疾病发生率最低的是高社会经济地位的儿童。大多数有需要的儿童没有接受治疗，这很可能是父母没有认识到精神疾病症状的结果。更大的社会资本与更少的耻辱感和更积极的求助态度有关。这些发现表明，专注于增加父母对心理健康知识和增加社区内社会资本的干预将增加父母对儿童的有效帮助。