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Relationship between mental health help-seeking intention and prospective help-seeking behavior: A meta-analysis with moderation testing

Author

Listed:
  • Weng, Wenqi
  • Hammer, Joseph H.
  • Sadek, Safiyah M.
  • Aspiranti, Kathleen B.
  • Miller, Melanie E.
  • Stanley, Amelia A.

Abstract

Intention to seek help is widely regarded as the immediate precursor to formal mental health help-seeking, yet the strength and consistency of this intention–behavior link remain unclear. This PRISMA-guided meta-analysis synthesized 15 longitudinal studies (N = 6532; 2004–2025) assessing mental health help-seeking intention and subsequent formal help-seeking behavior over follow-up intervals ranging from 3 weeks to 36 months. Searches included Academic Search Complete, ERIC, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Samples were primarily adult, with two adolescent/minor samples, and included populations or contexts involving depression, general/mixed mental health concerns, alcohol-related substance use, epilepsy-related mental health needs, and veterans’ mental health concerns. We estimated the pooled intention–behavior association and used mixed-effects meta-regression to test ten study-level moderators: gender composition, education level, collectivism, mental-health condition, age group, follow-up interval, intention wording, number of intention items, intention conditionality, and behavior target. The overall intention–behavior association was small to moderate (r ≈ .271), with extreme heterogeneity (I2 = 91.82%). Intention conditionality (i.e., unconditional vs. conditional) was the only moderator that was statistically significant (p = .015), although education level, number of intention items, and age group also showed descriptive explanatory value in accounting for between-study heterogeneity. Sensitivity analyses supported the stability of the overall effect, and no clear evidence of publication bias was detected. These results suggest that, in general, intention predicts help-seeking behavior to a limited but significant extent. Moreover, substantial variability across studies suggests that measurement strategies and population characteristics may shape variation in this relationship.

Suggested Citation

  • Weng, Wenqi & Hammer, Joseph H. & Sadek, Safiyah M. & Aspiranti, Kathleen B. & Miller, Melanie E. & Stanley, Amelia A., 2026. "Relationship between mental health help-seeking intention and prospective help-seeking behavior: A meta-analysis with moderation testing," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 403(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:403:y:2026:i:c:s0277953626005034
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2026.119427
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