Why Should Young People Be Involved in Mental Health Research?
As part of their In2science placement, we asked our students to research and write about why they think it’s important for young people to be involved in mental health research. This was an opportunity for them to develop both their research and writing skills and find out more about what mental health research means for young people.
By Aneesa Islam and Maheen Ishfaq:
Psychologists have been researching people for decades, including young people. Research into young people’s mental health is essential as it can allow people to understand each other better and prevent any problems from worsening in adolescence and adulthood. However, research into young people’s mental health requires support from young people themselves – whether it’s taking part as participants in research or helping researchers with their task design. Researchers are well qualified and experts in their study of research but… who knows young people better than young people? Adolescents are in the centre of this all and allowing them to gain insight into research surrounding them can have many positive benefits in the long term.
There are several meaningful ways that young people can be involved in designing research and being of help to the researchers. One way young people can help is suggesting ways to attract other young people to take part in research – this can be done by designing advertisements catered towards young people. Adolescents are more likely to know what they would take an active interest in, and what would most likely be ignored. Another way students could be help is by proposing different based on a person’s gender, ethnic background, social class, etc. A lot of research tends to be ethnocentric, focusing on the white majority and usually males, but allowing adolescents from many diverse backgrounds, where mental health may be considered a taboo, to take part in task designing can increase the inclusivity and even generalisability of the interventions that can be put into place. Furthermore, allowing students to test out early versions of interventions and different tasks can have a considerable impact as it allows for changes to be made to cater towards different groups and to make it more accessible for everyone.
Unfortunately, as young people may not have the qualifications required to fully understand the sensitive topic of mental health, their suggestions might not be possible and could cause complications within interventions. However, as they are working with researchers and professionals, it will provide teenagers with an insight into what these interventions may entail and will allow them to understand their role within the research and effectively be involved.
Furthermore, regardless of their A levels, young people should be involved in mental health research. It is not vital for them to be doing psychology. Mental health research opportunities should be accessible to all, not just STEM students. Programmes such as In2science should be accessible to all young people to provide a fair opportunity in designing research that will have a considerable impact on their own lives.
It is important for young people to be involved in mental health research and designing mental health interventions for other young people because no one understands young people better than young people! It is necessary for young people to not only understand their own mental health but to understand strategies and support they can access to ensure a positive well-being. Furthermore, allowing young people to partake in interventions that will help them in the future will make them aware of the support systems that are in place to ensure that they are taken care of. In order to protect the minds of young people, it is important to involve them in research as it can equip them with resource to help others.
