engleski

‘See us, listen to us!’: The adolescents voices of promoting and supporting youth mental health

Mental health problems are in great increase in the post pandemic period, and that is especially evident for children and adolescents. Listening to the voices of adolescents regarding mental health problems can provide new insights on the barriers to identifying and supporting mental health needs and contribute to the development of more effective strategies. Research presented in this paper is part of the project What is happening (to me)? Young people views of mental health difficulties. The following aims were sought: To explore adolescents’ views about support to youth mental health and to identify their ideas about strategies to promote mental health. Total of 56 high school students participated in 9 focus group discussions (71.4% females) in 6 high schools of the City of Zagreb. Mean age of participants was 17.2 (SD=0, 644) and their perception of their own mental health was rather high. Regarding formal support, adolescents expressed the need that mental health professionals should be authentic, informal, emphatic and approachable, they should see young people they work with as individuals and don’t presume in advance their reactions and experiences. Professionals shouldn’t diminish adolescents' problems, and that values also for the parents as their source of informal support. Adolescents are not prone to ask for help due to fear of being stigmatised or misunderstood and because of diminishing their own mental health difficulties. The need for educational and communication strategies to raise awareness of mental health problems among adolescents was identified. Results show that co-creation with adolescents may be an effective way to inform the development of strategies to promote mental health.

mental health, adolescents, focus groups

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