Centre for Youth Mental Health - Research Publications
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ItemWhat works for mental health problems in youth? Survey of real-world experiences of treatments and side effects(WILEY, 2021-12)AIM: Despite youth being the most common age group for onset of mental disorders, there is less knowledge on the benefits and harms of treatments in young people. In addition, efficacy data from randomized controlled trials may not generalize to how treatment works outside of research settings. This study aimed to investigate young people's perceived effectiveness of different treatments for mental health problems, the professionals who delivered these, and the experience of negative effects. METHODS: We developed a consumer report website where young people who were ever diagnosed with a mental disorder provided ratings on the helpfulness or harmfulness of different types of professionals, mental health treatments (medical, psychological complementary/alternative) and self-help strategies, and whether they had experienced particular negative effects. RESULTS: Here, 557 young people aged 12-25 years, who were recruited from English-speaking, high-income countries, provided 1258 ratings of treatments. All treatments showed varied perceptions of effectiveness. Medical and psychological treatments were rated moderately helpful on average with low rates of harmfulness. Self-help strategies were rated as being as helpful as professional treatments. Side effects related to the head or mind (e.g., concentration difficulties, inability to feel emotions, depression and irritability) were the most common across all types of medicines. For psychological treatments, treatment being too expensive and feeling worse at the end of a session were the most commonly reported negative effects. CONCLUSIONS: Study findings may be a useful guide to clinicians, researchers, young people and their families about what is likely to work in real-world settings.
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ItemUnderstanding the Needs of Young People Who Engage in Self-Harm: A Qualitative Investigation(FRONTIERS MEDIA SA, 2020-01-10)Self-harm is common and associated with adverse outcomes. Research about the risk factors for self-harm has informed the field with regard to clinical interventions that should be delivered for young people who engage in self-harm. Missing is an in-depth understanding of what the triggers of an urge to self-harm might be, including in young people being treated with a clinical intervention. Therefore, there is little knowledge about what techniques young people find helpful to deal with urges to self-harm when they occur. This qualitative study engaged seven young people with lived experience of self-harm in semi-structured interviews about the immediate triggers of the urge to self-harm, and helpful strategies to manage this urge. Thematic analysis using a general inductive approach revealed distressing emotions and a sense of isolation as key themes, with other triggers associated with their induction. Highlighted was the wide range of situations and emotions that can be triggering, such that a further key theme was the idiosyncratic nature of the self-help strategies young people found helpful. Interventions that are developed to support young people who self-harm must address this complexity and findings highlight the need for young people to maintain some autonomy and control while being supported to connect with others for support. This research adds to the literature on self-help strategies to support young people in moments when they are experiencing distressing emotions, feel isolated, and have an urge to self-harm providing important insight to the prevention and intervention for self-harm among young people.