Help-seeking behavior has previously been conceptualized as “a problem focused, planned behavior, involving interpersonal interaction with a selected health-care professional” (Cornally & McCarthy, 2011, p. 286).
In the context of the IBM-HS, help seekers are seeking assistance for a mental health problem (e.g., anxiety, depression, stress, difficulties related to substance use) or an adjacent issue treated by mental health professionals (e.g., relationship difficulties).
Although the mental health care pathway is often complex and involves informal help-seeking (e.g., friends, family; Pescosolido, 2010), the term prospective help-seeking behavior is understood within the IBM-HS to refer to voluntarily seeking assistance from a formal (i.e., professional) source, unless otherwise specified. Whereas some individuals experience involuntary treatment (e.g., psychiatric hospitalization, minor brought to treatment by parent), the IBM-HS is most applicable to consensual, planful, conscious pursuit of help.
Unlike help-seeking perceptions, prospective behavior is externally observable by a third party.
Prospective behavior can be conceptualized in terms of dichotomies (sought help or not), frequencies (number of sessions attended), or magnitudes (e.g., 10-minute consult, 50-minute session), though a dichotomous conceptualization is most common (Adams et al., 2022), as it most lends itself to being predicted by upstream constructs (Fishbein & Ajzen, 2010).
Because the literature often conflates past and prospective help-seeking behavior, we wish to emphasize that past help-seeking behavior refers to help sought prior to baseline data collection, current help-seeking behavior refers to help currently being sought (e.g., I am currently seeing a mental health professional), and prospective (i.e., impending, future) help-seeking behavior refers to help that is sought after baseline data collection.”
A description of available prospective mental health help-seeking behavior measures can be found on the Prospective Behavior measures page.
(Please note: select page content is excerpted from Hammer et al., 2024.)