Australian Youth Resilience and Help-Seeking during COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Study.
Behav Sci (Basel)
; 13(2)2023 Feb 01.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36829350
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has seriously impacted youth mental health. Their resilience, defined as the ability to respond to adversity, has also been impaired. Help-seeking refers to the activity of addressing oneself to others when facing trouble. The objective of this study was to understand the levels of youth resilience and help-seeking during COVID-19 in 2021. Data were collected online from 181 Australian adolescents aged 12-17 years. The General Help-Seeking Questionnaire, the Actual Help-Seeking Questionnaire, and the Resilience Scale were used. Mean and frequency analysis and independent samples t-tests were performed. The Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated. Resilience was in the low range (mean = 66.56, SD 15.74) and associated with no help-seeking. For a personal problem and suicidal ideation, participants were most likely to contact a mental health professional, with means of 4.97 (SD 1.75) and 4.88 (SD 1.97), respectively. The majority did not seek help (n = 47) for challenges with anxiety or depression. This study corroborates previous findings on limited help-seeking in youth because of self-reliance and low confidence in others. Resilience decreased during COVID-19 in parallel with help-seeking. Strategies aiming to increase resilience and help-seeking, such as school-based programs, are needed given their decrease in Australian youths due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Language:
En
Journal:
Behav Sci (Basel)
Year:
2023
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Australia