{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T01:25:28Z","timestamp":1760059528195,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":54,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,19]],"date-time":"2025-06-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1750291200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq)","award":["550023\/2011-9","57714-7"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["550023\/2011-9","57714-7"]}]},{"name":"Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)","award":["550023\/2011-9","57714-7"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["550023\/2011-9","57714-7"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The affected family members (AFM) of relatives with substance use problems (RSU) play an important role in supporting their relatives to enter substance use treatment. This study investigated the help-seeking behaviours for their relatives by AFM in Brazil, including the characteristics of those who sought help and the risk factors for delaying it. A secondary analysis from a national cross-sectional study of 3030 AFM was performed. Participants were recruited from a range of services focused on AFM across each of the five Brazilian regions (North, Northeast, Central-West, Southeast, South). While 92.7% sought help, 66.0% delayed for an average of 37.2 (SD 70.71) months. Help seeking was associated with higher socioeconomic status and being from the Southeastern region. Barriers included the relative refusing help (31.5%) and the belief that help was not needed (20.6%). Longer delays were associated with female AFM, residents in the Central-West region, non-parents, older RSU, alcohol use, and withdrawal coping strategies. The findings show disparities in help-seeking behaviour across socioeconomic groups, regions, and substance types, highlighting the need for better healthcare workforce distribution and targeted interventions to educate AFMs on the importance of engagement with healthcare services.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph22060968","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,20]],"date-time":"2025-06-20T05:17:42Z","timestamp":1750396662000},"page":"968","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Family Members\u2019 Help-Seeking Behaviour for Their Relative Who Uses Substances: A Cross-Sectional National Study in Brazil"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"22","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5853-8805","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cassandra Borges","family":"Bortolon","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, Federal University of S\u00e3o Paulo, S\u00e3o Paolo 04021-001, Brazil"},{"name":"Acurarte, Psicologia, Ensino e Saude, Porto Alegre 90035-190, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4494-8237","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Martha","family":"Canfield","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow G4 0BA, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Maria de Fatima Rato","family":"Padin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, Federal University of S\u00e3o Paulo, S\u00e3o Paolo 04021-001, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jim","family":"Orford","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3009-1778","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ronaldo","family":"Laranjeira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, Federal University of S\u00e3o Paulo, S\u00e3o Paolo 04021-001, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"63","DOI":"10.1024\/0939-5911\/a000530","article-title":"Family members of individuals suffering from addiction: Prevalence, health behavior and depressive mood","volume":"64","author":"Bischof","year":"2018","journal-title":"Sucht"},{"key":"ref_2","first-page":"108439","article-title":"Mental and physical health in family members of substance users: A scoping review","volume":"219","author":"Rancati","year":"2019","journal-title":"Drug Alcohol Depend."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1726","DOI":"10.1111\/add.16205","article-title":"Alcohol\u2019s harm to others in 2021: Who bears the burden?","volume":"118","author":"Laslett","year":"2023","journal-title":"Addiction"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Soellner, R., and Hofheinz, C. 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