Family member’s help-seeking behaviour for their relative who misuse substances: a cross-sectional national study in Brazil

Abstract Purpose: Affected family members(AFMs) of relatives who misuse substances (RMS) play an important role in supporting their relatives to enter substance use treatment. This study investigated the help-seeking behaviours for their relatives by AFMs in Brazil including the characteristics of those who sought help and the risk factors for delaying seeking help. Methods: Secondary analysis from a national cross-sectional study of 3,030 AFMs was performed. Data on socio-demographic characteristics, seeking help behaviours, reasons for delaying help-seeking, demographic and substance use characteristics of the relative, and coping strategies were collected. Results: Of the 92.7% of the sample that sought help for the relative, 66% delayed seeking help for 37.2 (SD 70.71) months. Help-seeking was associated with higher socioeconomic status and residing in the Southeastern region. Reasons for delaying help-seeking included the relative not accepting help (31.5%) and participants thinking that help/treatment wasn’t needed (20.6%). A longer delay in seeking help was associated with female AFMs, residents in the Centro-West region, non-parents compared to parents, a longer length of time knowing about the substance misuse, older RMS, alcohol as a substance of misuse, having another substance misuse relative in the family, and higher levels of withdrawal coping strategy. Conclusions: Prominent barriers to motivating families to seek help for their relatives exist at multiple levels including socioeconomic, cultural and regional influences. Public health providers and policymakers should pay more attention to these barriers when developing interventions aimed at promoting substance use treatment entry in individuals with substance misuse problems.