An exploratory study of people's reasons for delaying or avoiding helpseeking

Respondents from the general population rated the degree to which 25 different motives contributed to their decision to delay or avoid seeking help for a distressing personal problem. Multidimensional scaling analysis revealed five general clusters of motives to avoid helpseeking. These were labelled: Fear and Stigma, Problem Avoidance and Denial, Helper Evaluation, External Barriers, and Independence. Respondents who rated the Fear and Stigma items highly had problems that were seen as being intimate and internally attributed. Females were more likely to report Problem Avoidance and Denial motives than were males. Respondents with an external locus of control were somewhat more concerned with Helper Evaluation and External Barriers, and were somewhat less concerned with Independence, than were respondents with an internal locus of control. It is argued that a greater understanding of people's reluctances to seek help will facilitate the development of a general decisionmaking model of helpseeking behaviour.