一般印象認為中國人家庭遇上困難時祗會向親人朋友等非正式資源求助，非不得已時才會向機構服務求助。本研究以一份結構性問卷，在一個新市區內走訪了二百六十二個家庭，嘗試探討兩個為政者常見的論點：1)中國人家庭喜好向親人朋友求助多於向有關機構或服務求助；2)中國人會先向非正式資源求助，然後再向正式資源求助。與其他研究一致，本研究發現除了健康問題以外，絕大部份受訪家庭在遇上困難的時候都沒有向任何人士求助。在某些方面，較多人喜歡向親友求助，但祗有在兒女管教上是有較為顯著的分別。研究結果並不支持先『非正式』後『正式』的求助過程，也沒有發現明顯的交叉求助模式。本文也嘗試就研究結果對現行有關服務策劃提出了一些討論，指出這論點是假設多於事實，並且該些假設蘊含了服務污名化的文化意義，限制了政府支持家庭的角色，令政府忽略和妨礙了『非正式』資源的發展。討論亦建議對華人家庭的求助模式應有更具規模的研究，政府亦應制定適當的政策，發展出真正能夠彼此互補的『非正式』及『正式』資源。

By means of a community visit to 262 families in a Hong Kong new town, this study examines the hypotheses that informal help­seeking is preferred to formal and that there is a first-informal-then­formal pattern of help-seeking. Consistent with other studies, this study found that most of the households did not seek help from any sources when they encountered marital, financial, parenting, emotional and relationship problems in the past 12 months. For those who have sought help, preference of informal to formal help was found only in some areas. The only clear indication of preference for informal help was found in parenting problem. Neither the sequential nor the switching thesis was supported. Most respondents did not seek help from more than one source. Policy implications were discussed with reference to the cultural stigma that is inherent in receiving welfare and the need for a more committed and flexible policy that could address the current situation, develop and sustain the informal resources for families in times of troubles.