Informal and Formal Help Seeking Among Older Black Male Foster Care Youth and Alumni

Using the behavioral model for vulnerable populations as a framework, this study examined predisposing, enabling, and need factors related to seeking help from formal and informal sources among older Black male foster youth and alumni. Results of logistic regression analyses showed that emotional control, a predisposing variable, was related to help-seeking. Specifically, greater adherence to the norm of emotional control was related to lower likelihood of using informal or formal sources of help. These results support the literature on males, in general, and Black males, in particular, that posits that inhibitions to express emotions are a barrier to their help seeking. Implications for help seeking among vulnerable populations of adolescent and young adult Black males are discussed.