Young people's experiences of help-seeking for mental health

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Understanding the interactional context of young people's experiences of disclosure and help-seeking for mental health difficulties

• IRAS ID

  326506

• Contact name

  Michael Larkin

• Contact email

  m.larkin@aston.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  Aston University

• Duration of Study in the UK

  2 years, 0 months, 8 days

• Research summary

  This research study seeks to gain insight into what it is like for young people to disclose and seek help for mental health difficulties from professionals. In addition to this, we are interested in finding out what some of the barriers might be that may discourage or prevent young people from seeking help, and what else might help or hinder their decision to speak to a professional about their mental health.

  This is a qualitative research study, which will involve interviewing up to 30 young people aged 15-24 about their experiences of help-seeking for their mental health from a professional. The young people will be recruited from services within Forward Thinking Birmingham including the Eating Disorders Service, Early Intervention for Psychosis Service, Pause, and Personality and Complex Trauma Pathway. Around four to five young people will be recruited from each of these services in order to gather multiple perspectives from a range of people with different mental health experiences.

  The young people will be able to choose what type of interview they would like to have from a menu of options including a talking interview, relational mapping interview, timelining interview, bring-your-own-photos interview, and a draw-and-talk interview. All of the interview options can be conducted either in-person or online, depending on the young person’s preference.

  The data collected from the interviews will be pseudonymised and then analysed together qualitatively by the research team and our young co-researchers working with the McPin Foundation, a mental health charity focusing on involving young people in mental health research. Findings from this study will inform the development of a new research methodology and accompanying materials for involving young people in data analysis and interpretation in mental health projects.
  Lay summary of study results: Q1. How do young people make sense of their experiences of help-seeking and disclosure for mental health difficulties?
  - In contrast with our previous work (examining helpseeking experiences in urgent care), we found that young people's experiences of helpseeking with specialist mental health services were often positive. Friends and family were perceived as playing important roles in helping or hindering young people's ability to talk about their distress, and to access the right support. Professionals could provide a route to further connection and belonging through community groups, education and employment

  Q2. How do responses from professionals help and/or hinder young people's experiences of seeking help for their mental health?
  - Young people valued those professionals who listened, took care to ensure that they understood, and then provided consistent support in patient and persistent way. Good mental health support was likened to having an additional family member, or help from a mentor. It often included a practical component, and young people especially appreciated this when it gave them hope about their future.

  Q3. How can young people with experiences of mental health difficulties contribute to the analysis of mental health related data?
  We are an interdisciplinary team, incorporating perspectives from lived experience, psychology, psychiatry, philosophy and linguistics. Together, we have been examining qualitative data to understand young people's experiences of helpseeking for their mental health. We have been viewing these data from conversation analytic and interpretative phenomenological perspectives. Through this work, across two funded projects, we have been developing and refining a novel methodological approach to collaborative data analysis, in order to support young people in providing their insights as co-analysts. We have refined our methodology, and we are developing tools to help other researchers to use it.
  

• REC name

  Yorkshire & The Humber - Leeds West Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  23/YH/0278

• Date of REC Opinion

  14 Dec 2023

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion