Need for Mental Health Services and Service Use Among High School Students in China

ObjectiveRapid economic growth and social change in China in recent years have been accompanied by increased rates of mental health problems among the country’s adolescents. This study examined rates of mental health service use and associated factors among Chinese adolescents.MethodsA survey of 1,891 high school students in grades ten through 12 from three high schools in Shantou, China, was conducted in 2009. Measures of mental health status, service need (perceived and objective), mental health service use, and informal help seeking were obtained.ResultsTwenty-five percent of the adolescents reported a perceived need for the services of a mental health professional. Only 5% of the sample had used school-based mental health services and only 4% had used non–school-based services. Three factors emerged as independently associated with adolescent use of both school-based and non–school-based services: perceiving a need for mental health services, having turned to a teacher for help, and having turned to a...