Young adults’ perceptions of their families’ health beliefs and influence on mental health care seeking in rural South Africa

In South Africa, neuropsychiatric disorders rank third in their contribution to overall burden of disease. Stigma, lack of mental health awareness, and limited access to health services and to appropriate treatment contribute to the high level of unmet need for treatment of neuropsychiatric conditions. Little is known about how young adults make decisions to access mental health services and how their adult family members influence these decisions. This study explored young adults’ perceptions of the influence their adult family members on their own mental health service uptake. We conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with a convenience sample of 21 people (18–24 years) from KwaZulu-Natal Province (KZN). Thematic analysis of interviews found that: young people had partial knowledge of mental health conditions and services; both adult family members as well as peers and other community members influenced mental health care seeking behaviours. Participants who had accessed mental health services attested to their long-term benefit. Transition to adulthood was a time of mental health challenges. The results point to the need to scale up community-level awareness on mental health conditions in rural South Africa. This can include targeted education interventions to increase knowledge of mental health, and ways to adjust to the stresses of the transition to adulthood. More research is needed to further understand the gendered dimensions of peers’ influence of mental health service uptake.