Parents and caregivers of depressed adolescents: learning about experiences that led to the search for specialized attendance

Abstract

This study is aimed at analyzing the processes and the motivations that lead parents and caregivers to notice the depressive illness in adolescents and at understanding the influence of health beliefs and cultural habits in the search of specialized treatment. Using the qualitative case study method, four parents and/or caregivers of adolescents with diagnoses of depression under treatment at a mental health clinic in the city of Campinas, State of São Paulo, were interviewed. In accordance with the theoretical presumptions of the Health Belief Model (HBM), the categories that were created and discussed were: the perception of parents and caregivers regarding the susceptibility to the depressive illness; the perception of parents and caregivers regarding the severity of the depressive illness; external stimuli influencing the search for specialized treatment; the barriers and benefits perceived for the search for specialized attendance; structural and social variables influencing the search for specialized attendance.