ABSTRACT

Objective

When a person is missing, those left behind are at increased risk of experiencing mental health difficulties. However, little is known about mental health help-seeking among this population. The current study explored relationships between sociodemographic variables, loss characteristics, psychological symptoms, psychological disorder ”caseness”, and help-seeking behaviour among people with a missing loved one.

Method

One hundred and ten people with a missing loved one completed a questionnaire assessing help-seeking and symptoms of psychological distress, prolonged grief and posttraumatic stress. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests and binary regression analyses were used for data analysis.

Results

Results showed that the majority of participants had not sought help for their mental health, despite high rates of mental health problems. Current help-seeking was significantly associated with caseness of a non-specific mental health disorder but not with prolonged grief or probable posttraumatic stress. Overall, consulting a psychologist or counsellor was the most frequently sought source of help, followed by peers with shared experience.

Conclusions

This study highlights help-seeking among people with a missing loved one and suggests further research is needed to support this vulnerable group to access needed mental health help. Implications of findings for service delivery are discussed.

中文翻译：

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导航困境：为失踪者亲人的心理健康问题寻求帮助

摘要

客观的

当一个人失踪时，那些留下来的人面临心理健康问题的风险会增加。然而，在这一人群中寻求心理健康帮助的情况知之甚少。目前的研究探讨了失踪亲人的社会人口变量、损失特征、心理症状、心理障碍“案例”和寻求帮助行为之间的关系。

方法

110 名失踪亲人的人完成了一份问卷，评估寻求帮助和心理困扰、长期悲伤和创伤后压力的症状。描述性统计、卡方检验和二元回归分析用于数据分析。

结果

结果表明，尽管心理健康问题的发生率很高，但大多数参与者并未寻求心理健康方面的帮助。目前的求助与非特异性精神健康障碍的发生率显着相关，但与长期的悲伤或可能的创伤后压力无关。总体而言，咨询心理学家或咨询师是最常寻求的帮助来源，其次是有共同经验的同龄人。

结论

这项研究强调了失踪亲人的寻求帮助，并建议需要进一步的研究来支持这一弱势群体获得所需的心理健康帮助。讨论了调查结果对服务交付的影响。