Families with a family heritage of depression were more likely to facilitate adolescents’ access to health professions for the treatment of depression, and peers with depressive experiences often became “depression guides,” offering support and guidance to other adolescents considering treatment for depression. Teens’ experiences of treatment varied; teens whose families were treatment-supportive generally reported a more positive response to treatment, and teens who reported effective or helpful treatment appeared to be more likely to assist their peers by becoming a depression guide. For most teens in the study, the teen’s mother played a key role in initiating the teen’s visit to a health care provider. The findings from the study support the use of family systems-focused primary care service delivery models to determine how to address positive or negative aspects of a family heritage of depression or peer depression guides. The prevalence of major depression among adolescents is increasing with onset occurring at younger ages. While adolescents tend to under-use professional mental health services for depression, they informally seek health-related information from parents and peers. In this study, 15 adolescents were interviewed to explore teens’ perceptions of how their family and peers influenced their willingness to seek care for depression. The study utilized qualitative methodology based on the grounded theory method of qualitative inquiry. References