Help-Seeking Behaviors in Adolescents and Young Adults Who Engage in Nonsuicidal Self-Injury: An Integrative Review.

Purpose: Nonsuicidal self-injury is a growing public health concern in adolescents and young adults, who are often reluctant to seek help. The purpose of this integrative review is to understand help-seeking behaviors in this population by identifying similarities and differences in its forms, components (i.e., antecedents, types of help received, frequency of help-seeking, sources of help, consequences), and influencing factors.

Method: Seven databases were searched for research reports on help-seeking behaviors in young adults and adolescents with nonsuicidal self-injury, published in English.

Results: Of 1,063 publications found, 16 were ultimately included for analysis. Three forms of help-seeking behaviors (disclosure, help-seeking, mental health service use) showed contextual variance. Components of and factors for help-seeking behaviors functioned either as facilitators or as barriers related to future help-seeking and outcomes. Overall, similar patterns of help-seeking behaviors were found in young adults and adolescents but with a greater prevalence in young adults.

Discussion: To promote early access to resources and improve health outcomes, it is important to recognize that help-seeking is complex, with developmental stages. Future research should consider additional contextual variables that may affect help-seeking, as well as include longitudinal designs to capture longer term mechanisms of help-seeking.