Perceptions of Barriers to Services (PBS): The development of a new scale Matt Owens, Valerie Dunn, Mischa Gwaspari, Kelly Harris, Megan Ryan, Sonya Tsancheva & Ian Goodyer Introduction: The Perceptions of Barriers to Services scale (PBS) is a new self-report instrument, currently under development, designed to tap into young people’s feelings and beliefs about using mental health services. The statements are hypothetical so it is not necessary for respondents to have previously sought help for mental health problems. There are several putative themes to the items in the questionnaire which are undergoing testing (example items given in Figure 1). Perceptions of Barriers to Services Lack of Personal Insight Information about Services Anticipation of Negative Reaction Practicalities General Receptivity Self- Conscious Social Support Fear or Distrust Conclusions & Future directions: We consider that the PBS questionnaire has potential to enhance our understanding of the thoughts and feelings young people have about using mental health services. However, it should be noted that the scale is still in development and will need further refinement. The next steps involve: Developing a larger pool of questionnaire items for testing Psychometric validation of the tool on a large sample of adolescents Establishing construct & predictive validity For further information please contact: Matt Owens Valerie Dunn If friends suggested it, I would go and get help for a problem I had I wouldn’t have time to see somebody about any problems I might have I don’t trust doctors and psychologists very much Sometimes I have strong emotions but I’m not sure why Getting help for problems is a waste of time When I have problems, it’s hard to talk to others about them A lack of information would make it hard to see someone for help Only bad things would come from getting help Figure 1 Purpose: It is hoped that this scale will help researchers and health and social care professionals understand more about the relationship between young people’s views on mental health services, their actual service use and their psychological needs. Preliminary association with psychological distress: In the Cambridge CLAHRC Transfer of Care at 17 (TC17) cross-sectional pilot study, we found stronger perceptions of barriers to service use were associated with more psychological distress (r =.52, p<.001), as indexed by the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) in a sample of young people in care or attending child and adolescent mental health services (N=53). There are several interpretations: Psychological distress may cause more perceptions of barriers Higher perceptions of barriers may cause psychological distress A third variable could explain the relationship Psychological distress and perceptions of barriers may measure the same underlying construct There may be a reciprocal relationship between the two variables. Figure 2