The Role of Maternal Perceptions and Ethnic Background in the Mental Health Help-Seeking Pathway of Adolescent Girls
Open accessAbstract
Mothers play a crucial role in the help-seeking pathway of adolescents. This study examined how mothers with different ethnic backgrounds perceive the issue of help-seeking for internalizing problems (e.g. depression) in adolescent girls. Seven focus group discussions were conducted with 41 Dutch, Moroccan and Turkish mothers with a teenage daughter. Discussions were conceptually framed within a model of help-seeking and facilitated by a vignette. The internalizing problems sketched in the vignette were recognized as severe nonetheless; identified long term consequences varied per ethnic group. Negative attitudes towards General Practitioners, inaccessible mental health services and denial by daughters would hamper help-seeking. Fear of negative judgments/gossiping was considered a barrier by Turkish and Moroccan participants. Participants identified themselves and schools as primary sources of help. Turkish participants also named chaplains. To enhance utilization of mental health services by (minority) youth it is important to also address maternal barriers.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The majority of barrier/facilitator studies were cross sectional (n=36), thirteen were qualitative, and six used a mixed-method design.
“The majority of the studies were cross sectional (n = 36) [26–61], thirteen studies were qualitative [62–74] and six used a mixed-method design [75–80].”
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Health Behavior and Health Education: Theory, Research, and Practice
(1992) · Annals of Internal Medicine · doi:10.7326/0003-4819-116-4-350_1 · Cited by 13,211 · see citing works
Social Learning Theory and the Health Belief Model
Rosenstock, I. M., Strecher, V. J., & Becker, M. H. (1988) · Health Education Quarterly · doi:10.1177/109019818801500203 · Cited by 5,564 · see citing works
(1988) · NFER-Nelson eBooks · Cited by 5,560 · see citing works
The Validity of Two Versions of the GHQ in the WHO Study of Mental Illness in General Health Care
GOLDBERG, D. P., GATER, R., SARTORIUS, N., USTUN, T. B., PICCINELLI, M., GUREJE, O., & RUTTER, C. (1997) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291796004242 · Cited by 3,657 · see citing works
Champion, V. L., & Skinner, C. S. (2008) · Cited by 2,727 · see citing works
Sex Differences and the Epidemiology of Depression
Weissman, M. M. (1977) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1977.01770130100011 · Cited by 1,853 · see citing works
When and how do young people seek professional help for mental health problems?
Rickwood, D. J., Deane, F. P., & Wilson, C. J. (2007) · Medical Journal of Australia · doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2007.tb01334.x · Cited by 1,195 · see citing works
Kuehner, C. (2003) · Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica · doi:10.1034/j.1600-0447.2003.00204.x · Cited by 839 · see citing works
Cultural and contextual influences in mental health help seeking: a focus on ethnic minority youth
Cauce, A. M., Domenech-Rodríguez, M., Paradise, M., Cochran, B. N., Shea, J. M., Srebnik, D., & Baydar, N. (2002) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-006x.70.1.44 · Cited by 766 · see citing works
Racial and Ethnic Differences in Utilization of Mental Health Services Among High-Risk Youths
Garland, A. F., Lau, A. S., Yeh, M., McCabe, K. M., Hough, R. L., & Landsverk, J. A. (2005) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.162.7.1336 · Cited by 504 · see citing works
Factors Associated With Child Mental Health Service Use in the Community
Verhulst, F. C., & van der Ende, J. (1997) · Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1097/00004583-199707000-00011 · Cited by 312 · see citing works
Help seeking for emotional and behavioural problems in children and adolescents
Zwaanswijk, M., Verhaak, P. F. M., Bensing, J. M., van der Ende, J., & Verhulst, F. C. (2003) · European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1007/s00787-003-0322-6 · Cited by 263 · see citing works
Zachrisson, H. D., Rödje, K., & Mykletun, A. (2006) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/1471-2458-6-34 · Cited by 230 · see citing works
Sex and Age Differences in Depression: A Quantitative Synthesis of Published Research
Jorm, A. F. (1987) · Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.3109/00048678709160898 · Cited by 172 · see citing works
How Parents Seek Help for Children with Mental Health Problems
Shanley, D. C., Reid, G. J., & Evans, B. (2007) · Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research · doi:10.1007/s10488-006-0107-6 · Cited by 157 · see citing works
Denial and minimization in adolescents with anorexia nervosa
Couturier, J. L., & Lock, J. (2006) · International Journal of Eating Disorders · doi:10.1002/eat.20241 · Cited by 135 · see citing works
Simon, N. M. (2009) · The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry · doi:10.4088/jcp.s.7002.02 · Cited by 118 · see citing works
Latino immigrants' intentions to seek depression care.
Cabassa, L. J., & Zayas, L. H. (2007) · American Journal of Orthopsychiatry · doi:10.1037/0002-9432.77.2.231 · Cited by 112 · see citing works
Freedenthal, S. (2007) · Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior · doi:10.1521/suli.2007.37.1.22 · Cited by 106 · cited 1× · see citing works
“A big concern however, is that underutilization of mental health services is high in adolescents [7] and even higher in adolescents from ethnic minority groups in Western countries [8–10].”
BackgroundStigma, racism or choice. Why do depressed ethnic elders avoid psychiatrists?
Marwaha, S., & Livingston, G. (2002) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/s0165-0327(01)00470-0 · Cited by 98 · see citing works
Coping with depression in later life: a qualitative study of help-seeking in three ethnic groups
Lawrence, V. C., Banerjee, S., Bhugra, D., Sangha, K., TURNER, S., & Murray, J. (2006) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291706008117 · Cited by 97 · see citing works
Illness perceptions in anorexia nervosa: A qualitative investigation
Higbed, L., & Fox, J. R. E. (2009) · British Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1348/014466509x454598 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Zwaanswijk, M., van der Ende, J., Verhaak, P. F. M., Bensing, J. M., & Verhulst, F. C. (2007) · Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/1359104507080985 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
The challenge of diagnosing depression in childhood and adolescence
Carlson, G. A. (2000) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/s0165-0327(00)00283-4 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Denial of Symptoms and Psychopathology in Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa
Viglione, V., Muratori, F., Maestro, S., Brunori, E., & Picchi, L. (2006) · Psychopathology · doi:10.1159/000094723 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Knipscheer, J. W., & Kleber, R. J. (2005) · International Journal of Social Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/0020764005060853 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Ethnic differences in utilization of youth mental health care
de Haan, A. M., Boon, A. E., Vermeiren, R. R. J. M., & de Jong, J. T. V. M. (2012) · Ethnicity and Health · doi:10.1080/13557858.2011.645150 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Gonçalves, M., & Moleiro, C. (2012) · Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health · doi:10.1007/s10903-011-9527-9 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Gonçalves, M., & Käppler, C. D. O. (2010) · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- [32]Pels T, Meeuw W. Opvoeding in Nederlandse en Marokkaanse gezinnen (Upbringing in Dutch and Moroccan families). Tijdschr Orthopedagog. 1999;38:330–41.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Aguirre Velasco, A., Cruz, I. S. S., Billings, J., Jimenez, M., & Rowe, S. (2020) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-020-02659-0 · Cited by 736 · see citing works
Reardon, T., Harvey, K., Baranowska, M., O’Brien, D., Smith, L., & Creswell, C. (2017) · European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1007/s00787-016-0930-6 · Cited by 653 · see citing works
“The ‘stigma’ associated with mental health problems or attending mental health services was reported as a barrier in studies from different countries and cultures, including 11 (46%) qualitative studies [45, 54, 55, 57, 58, 60, 61, 63, 69, 71, 75], and among at least 10% of participants in six (25%) quantitative studi…”
Stigma associated with mental illness and its treatment in the Arab culture: A systematic review
Zolezzi, M., Alamri, M., Shaar, S. H., & Rainkie, D. C. (2018) · International Journal of Social Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/0020764018789200 · Cited by 286 · see citing works
Help-Seeking Measures and Their Use in Adolescents: A Systematic Review
Divin, N., Harper, P., Curran, E., Corry, D., & Leavey, G. (2018) · Adolescent Research Review · doi:10.1007/s40894-017-0078-8 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Fekih‐Romdhane, F., Jahrami, H., Stambouli, M., Alhuwailah, A., Helmy, M. S., Shuwiekh, H. A. M., Lemine, C. M. F. M., RADWAN, E. S., Saquib, J., Saquib, N., et al. (2022) · Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology · doi:10.1007/s00127-022-02403-x · Cited by 88 · see citing works
Oltean, I. I., Perlman, C. M., Meyer, S. B., & Ferro, M. A. (2020) · Journal of Child and Family Studies · doi:10.1007/s10826-020-01784-4 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Fekih‐Romdhane, F., Chebbi, O., Sassi, H., & Cheour, M. (2020) · Early Intervention in Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/eip.13080 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Place, V., Nabb, B., Gubi, E., Assel, K. V., Åhlén, J., Hagström, A., Bäärnhielm, S., Dalman, C., & Hollander, A. (2021) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2020-045923 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Wahl, P. W., Bruland, D., Bauer, U., Okan, O., & Lenz, A. (2017) · Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing · doi:10.1111/jcap.12171 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Velasco, A. A., Cruz, I. S. S., Billings, J., Jimenez, M., & Rowe, S. L. (2025) · FOCUS The Journal of Lifelong Learning in Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/appi.focus.25023003 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Verhulp, E. E., Stevens, G. W. J. M., Pels, T. V. M., Weert, C. M. C. V., & Vollebergh, W. (2016) · Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology · doi:10.1037/cdp0000092 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Dickson, S. J., Bussey, K., Kangas, M., Grocott, S., & Rapee, R. M. (2025) · Journal of Child and Family Studies · doi:10.1007/s10826-025-03172-2 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
New Technologies to Deliver CBT (Including Web-Based CBT, Mobile Apps, and Virtual Reality)
Weiss, D., & Marsac, M. L. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108235655.028 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Verhulp, E. E., Stevens, G. W. J. M., & Vollebergh, W. (2018) · Kind en adolescent · doi:10.1007/s12453-018-0174-y
Migration, Health and Help-seeking in Childhood
Flink, I. J. E. (2013) · RePub (Erasmus University Rotterdam)
Self-citation
- Authors
- Flink, I. J. E., Beirens, T. M. J., Butte, D., & Raat, H.
- Affiliations
- Erasmus MC (NL)
- GGD Rotterdam-Rijnmond (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Flink, I. J. E.
- Venue
- Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
- Published
- 2012-04-22
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 292-299
- ISSN
- 1557-1912 (ISSN-L)
- 1557-1920
- PMC
- PMC3599171
- OpenAlex
- W2114311894
- Cited by
- 15
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 1 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 0.48
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- EUR Research Repository (Erasmus University Rotterdam) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- RePub (Erasmus University Rotterdam) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- ZonMw (15501000)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Racial and Ethnic Identity Research
- Keywords
- help-seeking, adolescent girls, maternal perceptions, ethnic minority mothers, internalizing problems, adolescent depression, barriers to mental health care, general practitioners' attitudes, stigma, chaplains, Turkish mothers
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Attitude to Health, Child, Ethnicity, Female, Humans, Mental Health Services, Morocco, Mothers, Netherlands, Patient Acceptance of Health Care, Turkey, Focus Groups, Young Adult
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
