Gender Socialization, Parental Bonds, and Mental Health Treatment Seeking in Adolescence.

• In Event: 30860 - Section on Aging and the Life Course Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 5. Gender, Sexuality, and Aging

Abstract

This study explores the complex interplay between gender socialization, parental bonds, and mental health treatment utilization among adolescents. Using data from the 2019 National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) on 8,227 adolescents aged 12-17, this study examines how gendered expectations and parent-child relationships impact the seeking of mental health services. The findings reveal significant gender disparities in mental health service utilization, with female adolescents more likely to use mental health services, including specialty outpatient treatment and primary care. The study also finds that parental bonds moderate the effects of gender on treatment utilization, increasing the likelihood that girls with strong parental bonds will seek mental health treatment through primary care or the utilization of multiple mental health services. Conversely, boys with stronger parental bonds are less likely to utilize multiple treatment types. As such,
gender socialization plays a crucial role in influencing how parents express support differently based on their child's gender. These results underscore the importance of parental bonds in addressing the unmet mental health needs of adolescents. Furthermore, this study highlights the importance of parental bonds as a critical psychosocial resource that buffers the effects of stress on adolescents while also being an important resource that helps adolescents seek mental health resources when they do experience periods of mental distress. This study adds to the growing literature on parental bonds in children's mental well-being, as well as how gender socialization affects mental health service utilization.

Author

• Jonni Norman, University of New Hampshire