This study of 693 female adolescents, aged 12 to 20 years, describes t
he formal and informal help-seeking behaviors of Hispanic subjects, ex
amines demographic and psychosocial correlates of those behaviors, and
identifies differences in help-seeking behaviors between female Hispa
nic and adolescents of four other ethnic groups. The majority of subje
cts reported seeking help more frequently from informal rather than fo
rmal resources and there were significant relationships between psycho
social factors and informal help-seeking. There were significant diffe
rences by ethnicity in seeking help from peers and in the number of pr
oblems for which subjects would go to peers first. for help.