Help Seeking Behavior among Caregivers of Psychotic Patients- Influence of Select Demographic Factors

Abstract

The present study is an attempt towards assessing the extent of help seeking behavior among caregivers of psychotics and association of health seeking behaviour with demographic factors including age, domicile, diagnosis, gender and educational qualification. A total of 300 caregivers were included in the study, of which 151 of them were male caregivers and 149 were female care givers.  The study assessed help seeking behavior through the ‘Attitudes Towards Seeking Professional Help’ (Fischer ; Farina, 1995). To analyse the data, chi-square and Cramer’s V tests were employed. Results revealed that majority of the sample expressed moderate to high levels of help seeking behaviour to an extent of 75%. Caregivers from urban areas expressed more help seeking behaviour than care givers from rural areas. Caregivers in the age group of above 45 years expressed more help seeking behaviour than care givers belonging to rest of the age groups. Type of disorder, gender, and educational level of the caregivers did not have significant influence over help seeking behaviour.