Help-seeking process of parents for psychopathology in youth with moderate to borderline intellectual disabilities.
OBJECTIVE
To study the help-seeking process of parents for emotional or behavioral problems in their child with borderline to moderate intellectual disabilities.


METHODS
In 2003, in a special education-based sample of 522 youths (ages 10-18 years, response = 77.9%), we studied the parents' perception of their child's problems, their subsequent felt need for professional help, actual help-seeking, and the factors possibly related to taking these steps.


RESULTS
Even when parents indicated their child's emotional or behavioral functioning as "neither good nor bad," in about 70%, these problems were present according to standardized measures. Of the 213 parents (40.8%) who perceived problems, 70.6% felt a need, and 55.2% of these parents subsequently sought professional help. Parents more often sought help when their child had problems of anxiety and depression, experienced negative life events, and when parents perceived child psychopathology before the past year. Reported barriers to seeking help predominantly related to parents' evaluation of the severity of these problems and wanting to solve the problems themselves.


CONCLUSIONS
Clinicians and other service providers should address parents' concerns regarding their child's emotional/behavioral functioning and treatment seeking. Also, they should provide information on treatment options and on signs and potential negative prospects of their child's problems.
Douma
Jolanda C H
JCH
Ms. Douma and Ms. De Ruiter and Drs. Dekker and Verhulst are with the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus MC-Sophia, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; and Dr. Koot is with the Department of Developmental Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Dekker
Marielle C
MC
Ms. Douma and Ms. De Ruiter and Drs. Dekker and Verhulst are with the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus MC-Sophia, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; and Dr. Koot is with the Department of Developmental Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
De Ruiter
Karen P
KP
Ms. Douma and Ms. De Ruiter and Drs. Dekker and Verhulst are with the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus MC-Sophia, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; and Dr. Koot is with the Department of Developmental Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Verhulst
Frank C
FC
Ms. Douma and Ms. De Ruiter and Drs. Dekker and Verhulst are with the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus MC-Sophia, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; and Dr. Koot is with the Department of Developmental Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: f.verhulst@erasmusmc.nl.
Koot
Hans M
HM
Ms. Douma and Ms. De Ruiter and Drs. Dekker and Verhulst are with the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus MC-Sophia, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; and Dr. Koot is with the Department of Developmental Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D010290:Parents; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires