Lee, Jasmine;
Wong, Keri Ka-Yee;
(2024)
Mental health inequalities, challenges and support needs during COVID-19: a qualitative study of 14-to-25-year-olds in London.
BMJ Open
, 14
(4)
, Article e080161. 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-080161.
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Abstract
Objectives: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescent’s mental health and relationships has received growing attention, yet the challenges and support needs of adolescents living in existing deprivation are not well understood. The current qualitative study, part of a broader project cocreating mental health and life-skill workshops with young people, documents adolescents’ lived experience and support needs 4 years on from the COVID-19 pandemic. // Design: 20 semi-structured interviews and 6 focus groups were transcribed and thematically analysed in NVivo V.12 to inform codesigned workshops to support adolescents’ needs. // Setting: Islington borough in North London, United Kingdom. // Participants: 20 adolescents aged 14–25 years (mean=18.3; 60% female, 60% white) from Islington with a history of difficulties (eg, mental health, deprivation, court order) were referred by Islington local authority teams to our study. // Results: Thematic analyses revealed eight themes on adolescents’ COVID-19 experiences and five associated suggestions on ‘support needs’: health challenges and support; relationships and support; routines and support; educational challenges and learning support; inequality and support; distrust; loss of opportunities and grief. // Conclusions: In our qualitative study, adolescents spoke of positive reflections, challenges, and need for support 4 years on from the COVID-19 pandemic. Many adolescents shared their lived experiences for the first time with someone else and wished they would have the space and time to acknowledge this period of loss. Adolescents living with existing inequality and deprivation before the pandemic have reported sustained and exacerbated impacts during the pandemic, hence coproduced support for adolescents should be a priority.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Mental health inequalities, challenges and support needs during COVID-19: a qualitative study of 14-to-25-year-olds in London |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-080161 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-080161 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits others to copy, redistribute, remix, transform and build upon this work for any purpose, provided the original work is properly cited, a link to the licence is given, and indication of whether changes were made. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10190182 |
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