Wagner V, Bertrand K, Flores-Aranda J, et al. (2016). Initiation of addiction treatment and access to services: Young adults’ accounts of their help seeking experiences. Qualitative Health Research. doi: 10.1177/1049732316679372
Researchers interviewed 35 young adults (ages 18-30) recruited from Canadian criminal courts, emergency departments, and Health and Social Services Centers about their experiences with substance use services. Participants often underestimated the risk of substance use and overestimated their control over addiction. Participants’ decisions to seek treatment were often the results of their resolve to stop using, significant life events, and a sense of self-efficacy to achieve their goals. Participants cited family as a positive influence on their decisions to seek help. Participants often did not want to seek help because they felt that admitting they had a problem hurt their own self-image and strained relationships with their family. Participants reported that friends helped by referring them to resources, but that peers who used substances were negative influences. Colleagues and work were also deterrents from seeking help because participants feared job loss. Supportive figures in criminal justice (e.g. lawyers, probation officers) and health care (e.g. family doctors) were positive influences on participants’ decisions to seek help. Participants felt that wait time for treatment and a lack of information about resources were barriers to seeking help. Cost of psychological services, but not substance use services, was a barrier to seeking help. Finally, positive experiences with treatment could change participants’ perceptions of the health care system as a whole.