Perceived barriers to mental health treatment among individuals with a past-year disorder onset: findings from a Canadian Population Health Survey

Despite the availability of efficacious treatments, few individuals with a new-onset mental disorder access treatment in a timely manner. While barriers to mental health treatment have been studied among prevalent cases, few studies have focused specifically on incident cases. The purpose of the current study was to examine the prevalence and correlates of perceived barriers to mental health treatment among incident cases. Data came from the Canadian Community Health Survey, cycle 1.2 (CCHS 1.2), which represents a nationally representative sample of 36,984 Canadians. We used descriptive analyses to estimate the prevalence of different types of perceived barriers to treatment and logistic regression analyses to estimate the association between potential correlates and the probability of endorsing each type of barrier. The most frequently reported type of barrier was acceptability. Coping efficacy and psychological well-being were negatively associated with the likelihood of reporting accessibility barriers. Education was negatively associated with reporting acceptability barriers but positively associated with reporting availability barriers. Among individuals with a recent disorder onset, acceptability barriers are the most frequently reported. Perceived accessibility barriers may be open to influence from current clinical functioning and current perceptions of internal coping resources. These findings contribute to an important discussion about the complexity of pathways to care and point to the need for comprehensive approaches to overcoming barriers to care.