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
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.
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