Objectives. The aim of the present study was to examine the relations between help-seeking behaviours and mood problems among Arab Canadian and European Canadian adolescents. Method. Participants were 12 Arab Canadian adolescents (six males and six females; M = 15.75, SD = 1.42) and 12 European Canadian adolescents, matched for age and gender (six males and six females; M = 15.75, SD = 1.42) from three demographically diverse high schools in a midsized city in Ontario, Canada. Participants completed questionnaires assessing depressive symptoms, stressful life problems, sources of help, and barriers to seeking help for a stressful problem. Results. Youth reported a number of family (8% European Canadian; 25% Arab Canadian), school (42% European Canadian; 17% Arab Canadian), romantic relationships (17% European Canadian; 0% Arab Canadian), and other problems (25% European Canadian; 33% Arab Canadian), such as work and social issues, as their most stressful problem in the past six months. There were no significant differences in perceived severity or stressfulness of problems between the two ethnic groups. Of those adolescents who reported having a stressful problem, 64% of European Canadian and 44% of Arab Canadian youth sought help for their problem. In seeking help for their problem, Arab Canadian youth sought help from significantly fewer people than did European Canadian youth (t (8) = 2.802, p = .023). Arab Canadian youth reported seeking help from only family members, whereas European Canadian youth reported seeking help from family, friends, and other sources (e.g., teachers). There were no significant differences between the two ethnic groups on the types of barriers to seeking help for their problem. Results revealed that Arab Canadian youth (M = 16.18, SD = 12.87) endorsed more depressive symptoms compared to European Canadian youth (M = 7.58, SD = 5.47; t(21) = -2.119, p = .046). In Arab Canadian youth, depression was significantly positively correlated with the following barriers to help seeking: The problem being too personal, perception of family being sufficient for help, having an external locus of control, concerns of confidentiality, and affordability of professional services. Discussion. Findings have implications for understanding how Arab Canadian youth perceive the process of help-seeking and how mental health services can be better targeted to this population
