The Perceived Stigma of Mental Health Services Among Rural Parents of Children With Psychosocial Concerns
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OBJECTIVE: To examine parents' perceptions of stigma regarding mental health services for their child, consider stigma in the context of novel service delivery settings (e.g., telehealth, primary care, and schools), and evaluate stigma with other factors known to influence service access. METHODS: 347 caregivers of children with psychosocial concerns completed surveys regarding their perceptions of stigma, service delivery settings, and barriers to care. RESULTS: Parents endorsed low levels of stigma around services. Greater perceived stigma was related to less willingness to seek services in a mental/behavioral health center or schools but not in other settings, even when other barriers were considered. Having a younger child and a history of prior services was associated with greater willingness to seek services. CONCLUSIONS: Stigma does appear to present as a barrier, but only for some parents. Providing mental health services to young children and their parents in some nontraditional settings may increase access.
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Low availability or accessibility of CBT may be because of lack of identification, stigma, or difficulty in accessing services.
“This may be because of lack of identification, stigma, or difficulty in accessing services.18,19”
From Comparative efficacy and acceptability of bibliotherapy for depression and anxiety disorders in children and adolescents: a meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials (2018) · cites this paper as [19]
The sections “Individual and Family Factors Influencing Access” and “Barriers to Getting Help for My Child” (page numbers unavailable) describe stigma and practical barriers to accessing children’s mental health services. The copy does not establish lack of identification as a barrier or address the availability or accessibility of CBT specifically. (LLM, conf=0.85)
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- Authors
- Polaha, J., Williams, S. L., Heflinger, C. A., & Studts, C. R.
- Affiliations
- East Tennessee State University (US)
- Vanderbilt University (US)
- University of Kentucky (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Pediatric Psychology
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2015-06-13
- Volume
- 40
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1095-1104
- ISSN
- 0146-8693 (ISSN-L)
- 1465-735X
- PMC
- PMC4643638
- OpenAlex
- W2176839203
- Cited by
- 77
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 2
- FWCI
- 6.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Pediatric Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Digital Commons - East Tennessee State University (East Tennessee State University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (1ul1rr033173-01, KL2TR000116, UL1TR000117)
- National Institute of Mental Health (R21MH090539)
- National Center for Research Resources (UL1RR-033173)
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
- 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 › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychology and Mental Health
- Keywords
- mental health stigma, rural parents, access barriers, telemedicine, school-based mental health services, primary care, young children
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Child, Child Behavior Disorders, Child, Preschool, Female, Humans, Male, Mental Health Services, Parents, Perception, Primary Health Care, Surveys and Questionnaires, Rural Population, Schools, Caregivers, Telemedicine, Social Stigma
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