Abstract
The need for autonomy and independence in adolescence is so fundamental that it can be difficult for youth to seek help when they experience difficulties. To date, few studies have documented profiles of help-seeking behavior according to victimization, gender, and perceived social support among adolescents and emerging adults. The aims of the study were to: (1) identify distinct help-seeking profiles according to gender, victimization experiences and perceived social support, and (2) illustrate the distinct profiles in light of the help-seeking experiences of participants. A total of 397 youth aged 14 to 25 years old completed a questionnaire; a subsample of 100 youth also participate in an individual semi-structured interview. Questions on dating violence and a history of child sexual abuse, help-seeking strategies, and perceived social support were administered. A significant proportion of respondents experienced child sexual abuse and reported dating violence experiences. Four clusters highlighting the diversity of help-seeking profiles among youth were identified: (1) Friend-oriented help-seekers; (2) Proactive help-seekers; (3) Formal help seekers; (4) Self-reliant youth. The results suggest that youth are more likely to rely on their friends for help and less likely to seek help from formal resources. Girls are more proactive than boys in help-seeking. Youth victims of psychological and physical dating violence are more likely to be classified in the self-reliant group while youth with a history of child sexual abuse were found in greater proportion in the friend-oriented group. Results underscore that perceived social support is associated with help-seeking behavior, and highlight the importance of addressing the reluctance of youth to reach for informal help, especially in youth who experienced dating violence. This study also underlines the relevance of bystander interventions to support youth who experienced dating violence or child sexual abuse.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alleyne-Green, B., Fernandes, G., & Clark, T. T. (2015). Help-seeking behaviors among a sample of urban adolescents with a history of dating violence and suicide ideations. Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies, 10(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/17450128.2014.945629
Ansara, D. L., & Hindin, M. J. (2010). Formal and informal help-seeking associated with women’s and men’s experiences of intimate partner violence in Canada. Social Science & Medicine, 70(7), 1011–1018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.12.009
ARK Northern Ireland (2009). 2009 Young Life and Times Survey. Northern Ireland Social and Political Archive. https://www.ark.ac.uk/ylt/2009/YLTquest2009.pdf
Aubin, J., Lavallée, C., Camirand, J., Audet, N., Beauvais, B., & Berthiaume, P. (2002). Enquête sociale et de santé auprès des enfants et des adolescents québécois 1999. Institut de la statistique du Québec. https://statistique.quebec.ca/fr/fichier/enquete-sociale-et-de-sante-aupres-des-enfants-et-adolescents-quebecois-1999-rapport.pdf
Barbot, B., & Heuser, B. (2017). Creativity and identity formation in adolescence: A developmental perspective. In M. Karwowski, & J. C. Kaufman (Eds.), The creative self (pp. 87–98). London, UK: Academic Press
Bart, J., Bermetz, L., Heim, E., Trelle, S., & Tonia, T. (2013). The current prevalence of child sexual abuse worldwide: A systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Public Health, 58(3), 469–483. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-012-0426-1
Borgen, F. H., & Barnett, D. C. (1987). Applying cluster analysis in counseling psychology research. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 34(4), 456–468. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.34.4.456
Bundock, K., Chan, C., & Hewitt, O. (2020). Adolescents’ help-seeking behavior and intentions following adolescent dating violence: A systematic review. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 21(2), 350–366. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838018770412
Campbell, R., Greeson, M. R., Fehler-Cabral, G., & Kennedy, A. C. (2015). Pathways to help: adolescent sexual assault victims’ disclosure and help-seeking experiences. Violence Against Women, 21(7), 824–847. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801215584071
Causey, D. L., & Dubow, E. F. (1992). Development of a self-report measure for elementary school children. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 21(1), 47–59. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15374424jccp2101_8
Cho, H. (2017). Aspects of help seeking among collegiate victims of dating violence. Journal of Family Violence, 32(4), 409–417. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-016-9813-3
Cleary, A. (2012). Suicidal action, emotional expression, and the performance of masculinities. Social Science & Medicine, 74(4), 498–505. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.08.002
Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2011). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage
Fernández-González, L., Wekerle, C., & Goldstein, A. L. (2012). Measuring adolescent dating violence: Development of conflict in adolescent dating relationships inventory (CADRI) Short Form. Advances in Mental Health, 11(1), 35–54. https://doi.org/10.5172/jamh.2012.2280
Fernet, M., Désilets, L., Hébert, M., & Cousineau, M. M. (2019a). Informal help-seeking process regarding romantic issues and dating violence: A qualitative study. Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma, 14(1), 41–50. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-019-00289-7
Fernet, M., Hébert, M., Couture, S., & Brodeur, G. (2019b). Meeting the needs of adolescent and emerging adult victims of sexual violence in their romantic relationships: A mixed methods study exploring barriers to help-seeking. Child Abuse & Neglect, 91, 41–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.01.019
Finkelhor, D., Hotaling, G., Lewis, I., & Smith, C. (1990). Sexual abuse in a national survey of adult men and women: Prevalence, characteristics, and risk factors. Child abuse & neglect, 14(1), 19–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/0145-2134(90)90077-7
Gulliver, A., Griffiths, K. M., & Christensen, H. (2010). Perceived barriers and facilitators to mental health help-seeking in young people: A systematic review. BMC Psychiatry, 10(113), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-244X-10-113
Harland, K., & McCready, S. (2012). Taking Boys Seriously: A Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Male School-Life Experiences in Northern Ireland. Centre for Young Men’s Studies. https://pure.ulster.ac.uk/ws/files/11350226/Taking_Boys_Seriously_DE_FINAL_PDF.pdf
Hébert, M., Parent, N., & Daignault, I. V. (2007). The French-Canadian version of the self-report coping scale: Estimates of the reliability, validity and development of a short form. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 40(1), 2–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481756.2007.11909802
Hébert, M., Van Camp, T., Lavoie, F., Blais, M., & Guerrier, M. (2014). Understanding the hesitancy to disclose teen dating violence: Correlates of self-efficacy to deal with teen dating violence. Temida, 17(4), 43–64. https://doi.org/10.2298/TEM1404043H
Hedge, J. M., Sianko, N., & McDonell, J. R. (2017). Professional help-seeking for adolescent dating violence in the rural South: The role of social support and informal help-seeking. Violence Against Women, 23(12), 1442–1461. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801216662342
Koss, M. P., Abbey, A., Campbell, R., Cook, S., Norris, J., Testa, M., & White, J. (2007). Revising the SES: A collaborative process to improve assessment of sexual aggression and victimization. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 31(4), 357–370. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.2007.00385.x
Koss, M. P., & Gidcyz, C. A. (1985). Sexual experiences survey: A research instrument investigating sexual aggression and victimization. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 53(3), 422–423. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.53.3.422
Koss, M. P., & Oros, C. J. (1982). Sexual experiences survey: a research instrument investigating sexual aggression and victimization. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 50(3), 455–457. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.50.3.455
Martin, C. E., Houston, A. M., Mmari, K. N., & Decker, M. R. (2012). Urban teens and young adults describe drama, disrespect, dating violence and help-seeking preferences. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 16(5), 957–966. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-011-0819-4
McElvaney, R., Greene, S., & Hogan, D. (2014). To tell or not to tell? Factors influencing young people’s informal disclosures of child sexual abuse. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 29(5), 928–947. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260513506281
Moore, A., Sargenton, K. M., Ferranti, D., & Gonzalez-Guarda, R. M. (2015). Adolescent dating violence: Supports and barriers in accessing services. Journal of Community Health Nursing, 32(1), 39–52. https://doi.org/10.1080/07370016.2015.991668
Seamark, D., & Gabriel, L. (2018). Barriers to support: A qualitative exploration into the help-seeking and avoidance factors of young adults. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 46(1), 120–131. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2016.1213372
Van Camp, T., Hébert, M., Guidi, E., Lavoie, F., & Blais, M. (2014). Teens’ self-efficacy to deal with dating violence as victim, perpetrator or bystander. International Review of Victimology, 20(3), 289–303. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269758014521741
Wekerle, C., Leung, E., Wall, A. M., MacMillan, H., Boyle, M., Trocmé, N., & Waechter, R. (2009). The contribution of childhood emotional abuse to teen dating violence among child protective services-involved youth. Child Abuse & Neglect, 33(1), 45–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2008.12.006
Wincentak, K., Connolly, J., & Card, N. (2017). Teen dating violence: A meta-analytic review of prevalence rates. Psychology of Violence, 7(2), 224–241. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0040194
Wood, M., & Stichman, A. (2018). Not a big deal? Examining help-seeking behaviors of sexually victimized women on the college campus. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 62(6), 1415–1429. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X16683225
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank adolescents and emerging adults who participated to this project and the community organizations partners.
Funding
This research was supported by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (#435-2013-1683) awarded to Mylène Fernet.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Submitted to
Child & Adolescent Trauma.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fernet, M., Hébert, M., Brodeur, G. et al. A Typological Analysis of Help-Seeking Profiles in Youth and Associations with Victimization. Journ Child Adol Trauma 15, 1127–1136 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-022-00459-0
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-022-00459-0