Young LGBTQ+ people’s experiences of CAMHS in the context of Selfharm
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Seeking Support: Young LGBTQ+ people’s experiences of CAMHS in the context of self-harm
IRAS ID
365019
Contact name
Lauren Jackson 2024
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Lancaster University
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
365019, 365019
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 7 months, 1 days
Research summary
This study aims to explore LGBTQ+ young people who self-harm's experiences of accessing CAMHS. This will be done by recruiting participants who meet a certain criteria to take part in a questionnaire and introductory telephone call followed by an online semi-structured interview. This format was chosen to offer some standardisation whilst simultaneously offering flexibility for the researcher to better understand individual perspectives. This is reflective of the chosen analysis method of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) which aims to understand how people make sense of experiences. I am eager to hear from participants who are aged between 14-21 years old, fluent English speakers, identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community and have accessed any level of CAMHS for self-harm. The participants must have accessed/are accessing, CAMHS for any level of support with self-harm however, they do not need to be accessing CAMHS for self-harm exclusively. If a participant has accessed CAMHS in the last three years they are eligible. An experts by experience was consulted in regard to the patient facing material to ensure it is accessible. This study is important as it will capture the experiences of a group of people who have been historically underrepresented in research and in services. Pattinson et al, (2021) highlight that LGBTQ+ young people are more likely to experience distress yet are less likely to access services for support with this. It is hoped that the results will help to inform how clinicians’ approach and interact with LGBTQ+ young people accessing services to help improve engagement and to remove barriers that prevent this group accessing support.
REC name
North West - Liverpool Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
26/NW/0158
Date of REC Opinion
11 Jun 2026
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion