Help-Seeking Behavior of Adolescents and Emerging Adults With Mental Health Problems During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract: Theoretical Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the mental health of many adolescents and emerging adults (A and EA). Studies from before the COVID-19 pandemic document that A and EA with mental health problems rarely seek help. At the same time, studies suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated framework conditions also negatively impacted the help-seeking process for A and EA. Objective: This study provides a research synthesis on A’s and EA’s help-seeking process (in particular, help-seeking behavior) during the COVID-19 pandemic and identifies potential influencing factors on the help-seeking process. Method: We conducted a scoping review in accordance with the framework proposed by Arksey and O’Malley (2005 ) and adhered to the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews Guidelines ( Tricco et al., 2018 ) while analyzing the content of primary studies examining the help-seeking process of A and EA with mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: Fourteen primary studies met the inclusion criteria. The synthesized data indicate that increased psychological stress during the COVID-19 pandemic did not automatically lead to increased help-seeking behavior. Furthermore, we identified several factors influencing help-seeking behavior, such as personal factors (e. g., gender), factors linked to the social environment (e. g., open conversation style within the family), and structural factors (e. g., prolonged waiting periods) that influenced the help-seeking process. Notably, many of these factors had already been identified in prepandemic studies (e. g., gender). Discussion and conclusion: We discuss the results concerning possible prevention measures.