Shifting Attitudes Towards Seeking Help in a Youth Development Program: A Program Evaluation

Abstract

Abstract Youth development programs often suffer from a dearth of evaluation of the programs' long-term effects. To integrate more comprehensive and impactful evaluation in youth development programs, the present project evaluated how program participation affected caregivers' intentions to seek help for mental health issues in the future. Service utilization, perception of support, and satisfaction with the program were all included as predictors of intentions for seeking help. Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), an original model based on the theory of planned behavior was tested. It was found that program participation significantly increased families' willingness to seek help for child mental health issues. When testing the hypothesized mechanisms of this change, mediational models showed that support and satisfaction variables did not explain the increase of help-seeking intentions, contrary to predictions. Implications of these results for youth development programs and for professionals working with children and families in need of services are discussed.