Twelve-month outcomes of MAKINGtheLINK: A cluster randomized controlled trial of a school-based program to facilitate help-seeking for substance use and mental health problems.

Background: Young people experiencing mental health problems are often reluctant to seek help, particularly from professionals (i.e., doctors or mental health workers).

Perceived Barriers and Enablers of Help-Seeking for Substance Use Problems During Adolescence.

Aim: Receiving professional help early can reduce long-term harms associated with substance use. However, little is known about the factors that influence help-seeking for substance use problems during early-mid adolescence, prior to the emergence of disorder. Given that beliefs regarding help-seeking are likely to develop early, understanding adolescent views of help-seeking during this period is likely to provide important information for prevention and intervention efforts.

MAKINGtheLINK: A school-based intervention to improve help-seeking for substance use problems.

Background: Many young people are reluctant to seek professional help for alcohol and other substance use problems, preferring to rely on family and friends. MAKINGtheLINK is a school-based intervention that teaches adolescents how to help their peers overcome barriers to engaging with professional help. The current study examined the effect of the MAKINGtheLINK programme in a sample of 12- to 15-year-old students.

A school-based health promotion programme to increase help-seeking for substance use and mental health problems: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Adolescence is a high-risk time for the development of mental health and substance use problems. However, fewer than one in four 16-24 year-olds with a current disorder access health services, with those experiencing a substance use disorder being the least likely to seek professional help. Research indicates that young people are keeping their problems to themselves or alternatively, turning to peers or trusted adults in their lives for help.

MAKINGtheLINK: a school-based health promotion programme to increase help-seeking for cannabis and mental health issues among adolescents.

Aim: There is increasing concern regarding the use of cannabis among adolescents, especially given recent evidence highlighting its link with later mental disorders. Encouraging young people with mental health or drug issues to seek professional help is an important early intervention strategy; however, adolescents are typically reluctant to do so and instead turn to their peers for help. Peers may not have the skills or knowledge required to assist their friends to access professional help.