The relationship between mental health literacy and psychological help seeking attitude in children/adolescents diagnosed with mental disorder

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between mental health literacy and psychological help-seeking attitude in children/adolescents diagnosed with mental disorders. Material and Method: This study was conducted between November 13, 2024 and January 15, 2025 with 228 children/adolescents diagnosed with mental disorders in the Child-Adolescent Mental Health Outpatient Clinic of Dicle University Hospital. It has a cross-sectional, descriptive and correlational design. Personal Information Form, Adolescent Mental Health Literacy Scale (ERSOYÖ), Psychological Help Seeking Attitude Scale (PYATÖ) were used for data collection. Number, percentage, mean, standard deviation were used to analyze descriptive data. Kurtosis and Skewness (-1.96-1.96) were used to analyze whether the scale scores and numerical variables were normally distributed and it was determined that the mean scale scores were normally distributed. In the comparison of the scales according to sociodemographic variables, Student-t test was used for binary variables and ANOVA was used for three or more variables. Simple linear regression and Enter's method were used to determine the effect of ERSOYÖ on PMATÖ. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to examine the internal consistency of the ERSOQ and PMAS. All findings were analyzed at p<0.05 significance level. Result: The mean age of the participants was 14.62 (1.80) and the mean age at diagnosis was 12.75 (3.00). The mean total score of the participants was 36.60 (9.94) and the mean total score of the participants was 65.89 (11.40). According to Pearson correlation analysis, a statistically significant negative and weak correlation was found between the participants' PMAS and ERSOYÖ scale scores (r: -0.39, p< 0.001). It was found that the total scores of ERSOQ were statistically significant as a predictor of PMRTQ (R2=0,15). Conclusion: In this study, it was found that psychological help-seeking behaviors of children/adolescents diagnosed with mental disorders were moderate, mental health literacy was above the middle, and psychological help-seeking behaviors decreased as mental health literacy levels increased. Psychiatric nurses should be provided to reach children/adolescents within the scope of mental health education in schools about mental health literacy and psychological help-seeking behaviors. Key Words: Child, Adolescent, Mental Health Literacy, Help-Seeking Behavior