Examining the Gap Between Perceived and Actual Help-Seeking for Suicidal Ideation Among Adolescents in Plateau State Secondary Schools

The discrepancy between adolescents' self-reported intentions to seek help for suicidal ideation and their actual help-seeking behaviour is a clinically significant research gap with important implications for suicide prevention programme design in Nigeria. In Plateau State, where conflict exposure compounds adolescent mental health vulnerability, this intention-behaviour gap for suicidal ideation has not been empirically measured. This study examines the gap between perceived and actual help-seeking for suicidal ideation among secondary school adolescents in Plateau State, using a longitudinal follow-up design. A two-wave panel survey is applied to 220 adolescents aged 13 to 18 years from four secondary schools, screened positive for suicidal ideation on the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale at baseline. Intended help-seeking is measured at Wave 1 and actual help-seeking at six-week follow-up using the General Help-Seeking Questionnaire. Barriers assessed include mental health stigma, confidentiality concerns, and suicide literacy. McNemar's test, logistic regression, and discriminant function analysis are performed in SPSS. Literature from North Central Nigerian adolescent suicidology identifies stigma and inadequate confidentiality trust as the two strongest predictors of the intention-behaviour gap. The Theory of Planned Behaviour and the Integrated Motivational-Volitional Model of suicidal behaviour provide the theoretical framework. Findings fill a prospective methodology gap in Nigerian adolescent suicide research and will guide school-based prevention programmes in Plateau State. Keywords: suicidal ideation, help-seeking gap, adolescents, Plateau State, suicide prevention.