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• Published: 28 May 2022

A qualitative study exploring how young people perceive and experience substance use services in British Columbia, Canada

• Roxanne Turuba 1 , 2 ,
• Anurada Amarasekera 1 , 2 ,
• Amanda Madeleine Howard 1 , 2 ,
• Violet Brockmann 1 , 2 ,
• Corinne Tallon 1 , 2 ,
• Sarah Irving 1 , 2 ,
• Steve Mathias 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ,
• Joanna Henderson 6 , 7 ,
• Kirsten Marchand 1 , 4 , 5 , 8 &
• Skye Barbic 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 8  

Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy volume  17 , Article number:  43 ( 2022 ) Cite this article

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Substance use among youth (ages 12–24) is troublesome given the increasing risk of harms associated. Even more so, substance use services are largely underutilized among youth, most only accessing support when in crisis. Few studies have explored young people’s help-seeking behaviours to address substance use concerns. To address this gap, this study explored how youth perceive and experience substance use services in British Columbia (BC), Canada.

Participatory action research methods were used by partnering with BC youth (under the age of 30) from across the province who have lived and/or living experience of substance use to co-design the research protocol and materials. An initial focus group and interviews were held with 30 youth (ages 12–24) with lived and/or living experience of substance use, including alcohol, cannabis, and illicit substances. The discussions were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed thematically using a data-driven approach.

Three main themes were identified and separated by phase of service interaction, starting with: Prevention/Early intervention , where youth described feeling unworthy of support; Service accessibility , where youth encountered many barriers finding relevant substance use services and information; and Service delivery , where youth highlighted the importance of meeting them where they are at, including supporting those who have milder treatment needs and/or do not meet the diagnosis criteria of a substance use disorder.

Conclusions

Our results suggest a clear need to prioritize substance use prevention and early interventions specifically targeting youth and young adults. Youth and peers with lived and/or living experience should be involved in co-designing and co-delivering such programs to ensure their relevance and credibility among youth. The current disease model of care leaves many of the needs of this population unmet, calling for a more integrated youth-centred approach to address the multifarious concerns linked to young people’s substance use and service outcomes and experiences.

Substance use initiation is common during adolescence and young adulthood [ 1 ]. In North America, youth (defined here as aged 12–24) report the highest prevalence of substance use compared to older age groups [ 2 , 3 ], alcohol being the most common (youth 15–19: 57%; youth 20–24: 83%), followed by cannabis (youth 15–19: 19%; youth 20–24: 33%), and illicit substances (youth 15–19: 4%; youth 20–24: 10%) [ 2 ]. High rates of substance use among youth are worrisome given the ample evidence linking early onset to an increased risk of developing a substance use disorder (SUD) and further mental health and psychosocial problems [ 4 , 5 , 6 ]. Youth are also more likely to use more heavily and in riskier ways than adults, making them especially vulnerable to substance use related harms [ 2 , 7 ]. For example, polysubstance use is more common and increasing among youth [ 8 , 9 , 10 ], which has been associated with an increase in youth overdose hospitalizations [ 11 ]. Substance use is also associated with several leading causes of death among youth (e.g., suicide, unintentional injury, violence) [ 12 , 13 ], demonstrating an urgent need to provide effective substance use services to this population.

Current evidence-based recommendations to address substance use issues among youth include a range of comprehensive services, including family-oriented treatments, behavioural therapy, harm reduction services, pharmacological treatments, and long-term recovery services [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. Like with adults, these services should be tailored based on young people’s individual needs and circumstances and should consider concurrent mental health disorders which are common among youth who use substances [ 3 , 15 , 18 ]. Merikangas et al. [ 18 ] reported rates of co-occurring mental health disorders as high as 77% among a community sample of youth with a SUD diagnosis. Regardless of precedence, both mental health and SUD can have exacerbating effects on each other if not treated, highlighting the importance of early diagnosis and early access to care [ 19 ]. However, current practices utilizing an integrative approach to diagnose and treat SUD and concurrent mental health disorders have yet to be widely implemented [ 20 , 21 , 22 ]. Further, the current substance use service landscape has been largely designed to treat SUD in adult populations [ 17 ], who often require more intensive treatment compared to youth [ 15 ].

Literature suggests that there are differences between how youth and adults perceive and present substance use issues, suggesting different approaches may be needed to address substance use concerns [ 15 ]. For example, youth have shorter substance use histories and therefore often express fewer negative consequences related to their substance use, which may reduce their perceived need for services [ 15 ]. Further, the normalization of substance use among younger populations and the influence of peers and family members may also play a factor in reducing young people’s ability to recognize problems that arise due to their substance use [ 9 , 23 ]. Confidentiality concerns may also prevent youth from accessing services when needed [ 23 ]. Youth are therefore unlikely to access substance use services before they are in crisis. The 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health [ 24 ] reported that only 7.2% of youth ages 12–25 who were identified as needing specialized substance use treatment (defined as substance use treatment received at a hospital (inpatient), rehabilitation facility (inpatient or outpatient), or a mental health centre) accessed appropriate services and that 92% of youth did not feel they needed to access specialized services for substance use. In 2020, the percentage of youth who received specialized treatment dropped to 3.6 and 98% of youth did not perceive the need for it [ 3 ], demonstrating the exacerbating effects the pandemic has had on young people’s service trajectory and experiences.

Although help-seeking behaviours to address mental health concerns among youth have been explored [ 25 , 26 ], few studies have been specifically designed to explore young people’s experiences with substance use services. Existing evidence has largely focused on the experiences of street entrenched youth and youth who specifically use illicit substances (e.g., opioids, heroin, fentanyl) ([ 1 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ], (Marchand K, Fogarty O, Pellat KM, Vig K, Melnychuk J, Katan C, et al: “We need to build a better bridge”: findings from a multi-site qualitative analysis of opportunities for improving opioid treatment services for youth, Under review)), which remains an important research focus, but may not be representative of those who have milder treatment needs. As such, this qualitative study aims to understand how youth perceive and experience substance use services in British Columbia (BC) more broadly. This study also explored young people’s recommendations to improving current models of care to address substance use concerns.

Study design & setting

This study is part of the Building capacity for early intervention: Increasing access to youth-centered, evidence-based substance use and addictions services in BC and Ontario project, which aims to create youth-informed substance use training for peer support workers and other service providers working within an integrated care model. The project is being led by Foundry Central Office and the Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario (YWHO), two youth integrated health service hubs in BC and Ontario respectively. As part of this project, the BC project team conducted a qualitative research study, entitled The Experience Project , to support the development of substance use training. This paper focuses on this BC study, which follows standards for reporting qualitative research (SRQR) [ 31 ].

In May 2020, we applied participatory action research (PAR) methods [ 32 , 33 ], by partnering with 14 youth (under the age of 30) throughout the course of the project, who had lived and/or living experience of substance use and lived in BC. Youth advisors were recruited through social media and targeted outreach (i.e., advisory councils from Indigenous-led organizations and rural and remote communities) in order to engage a diverse group of young people. A full description of our youth engagement methods has been described elsewhere (Turuba R, Irving S, Turnbull H, Howard AM, Amarasekera A, Brockmann V, et al: Practical considerations for engaging youth with lived and/or living experience of substance use as youth advisors and co-researchers, Under review). British Columbia has a population of approximately 4.6 million people, 88% of which reside within a metropolitan area; only 12% live in rural and remote communities across a vast region of land. Nationally, BC has been disproportionately impacted by the opioid crisis, counting 1782 illicit drug overdose deaths in 2021 alone, 84% of which were due to fentanyl poisoning [ 34 ]. Although more than half of BC’s population reside in the Metro Vancouver area, rates of illicit drug overdose deaths are similar across all health regions [ 34 ].

The youth partners formed a project advisory which co-created and revised the research protocol and materials. The initial focus group questions were informed by Foundry’s Clinician Working Group, based on what Foundry clinicians wanted to know about youth who use substances and how best to support them. The subsequent interview guide was developed based on the focus group learnings and debriefing sessions with the project youth advisory (see Data Collection section below). Three advisory members were also hired as youth research assistants to support further research activities including data collection, transcription, and analysis.

Participants

Participants were defined as youth between the ages of 12–24 who had lived and/or living experience of substance use (including alcohol, cannabis, and/or illicit substance use) in their lifetime and lived in BC. Substance use service experience was not a requirement as we wanted to understand young people’s perception of services and barriers to accessing them. Youth were recruited through Foundry’s social media pages and targeted advertisements. Organizations serving youth across the province were contacted about the study and asked to share recruitment adverts with youth clients. Organizations were identified by our youth advisors and Foundry service teams from across the province in order to recruit a geographically diverse sample of youth. This included mental health services, child and family services, social services, crisis centres, youth shelters, harm reduction services, treatment centres, substance use research partners, community centres, friendship centres, schools, and youth advisories. Interested youth contacted the research coordinator (author RT) to confirm their eligibility. Youth under the age of 16 required consent from a parent or legal guardian and gave their assent in order to participate, while youth ages 16–24 consented on their own behalf. Verbal consent was obtained from participants/legal guardians over the phone or Zoom after being read the consent form, prior to the focus group/interview. A hard copy of their consent form was signed by the research coordinator and sent to the participant/legal guardian for their records.

Data collection

Data collection began in November 2020 until April 2021. An initial semi-structured 2-h focus group with 3 youth (ages 16–24) was facilitated by 2 trained research team members, including a youth research assistant with lived/living experience. A peer support worker was also available for further support. The focus group discussion highlighted youth participants’ multifarious experiences with substance use services and the variety of substances used, which led us to change our data collection methods to individual in-depth interviews. Two interview guides were developed based on the focus group learnings to reflect the different range of service experiences. Interviews questions were reviewed and modified with the project youth advisory. Semi-structured interviews were held with 27 youth participants, which were facilitated by 1–2 members of the research team and lasted 30-min to an hour. In an effort to promote a safe and inclusive space for youth to share their experiences, participants were given the option to request a focus group/interview facilitator who identified as a person of color if preferred. The focus group/interviews began with introductions and the development of a community agreement to ensure youth felt safe to share their experiences. Participants were also sent a demographic survey to fill out prior to the focus group/interview, which was voluntary and not a requirement for participating in the qualitative focus group/interview. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the discussions were conducted virtually over Zoom. Participants were provided with a $30 or $50 honoraria for taking part in an interview or focus group, respectively.

Data analysis

The focus group and interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed thematically using NVivo (version 12) following an inductive approach using Braun and Clarke’s six step method [ 35 ]. The research coordinator led the analysis and debriefed regularly with author KM, who has extensive experience with qualitative health research in substance use [ 36 , 37 ]. The transcripts were read multiple times and initial memos were taken. A data driven approach was used to generate verbatim codes and identify themes. Meetings were also held with the youth research assistants to discuss the data and review and refine the themes to strengthen the credibility and validity of the findings, given their role as facilitators and their lived/living experience with substance use. This included selecting supporting quotes to highlight in the manuscript and conference presentations.

We interviewed a total of 30 youth participants. Socio-demographics, substance use patterns and service experiences are listed in Table  1 . Participants’ median age was 21 and primarily identified as women (55.6%) and white/Caucasian (66.7%). Most youth had used multiple substances in their lifetime and over the past 12-months, with alcohol being the most common, followed by marijuana/cannabis, psychedelics, amphetamines (e.g., MDMA, ecstasy) and other stimulants, non-prescription or illicit opioids, depressants, and inhalants. More than half (55.6%) had some post-secondary education and almost all participants were either in school and/or employed (94.4%). Seventy-five percent of participants had experience accessing substance use services.

Three overarching themes of youths’ substance use service perceptions and experiences were identified (see Fig.  1 ). These themes were specific to the phase of service interaction youth described, given that they were all at different phases of their substance use journeys and had different levels of interaction with substance use services. For example, some youth had never accessed substance use services but described their perceptions of services based on the information available to them, while others described specific service interactions they had. The themes were therefore separated by phase of service interaction, starting with 1. Prevention/Early intervention, where youth describe feeling unworthy of support; 2. Service accessibility, where youth encounter many barriers finding relevant services and information; and 3. Service delivery, where youth highlight the importance of meeting them where they are at.

Overarching themes describing young people’s experiences with substance use services

Prevention/early intervention: youth feel unworthy of support

Many youth described feeling unworthy of health and social services, especially when they did not identify as having a SUD. Young people’s perception of SUD typically revolved around the use of “ harder substances”, which participants defined as heroin, crack cocaine, intravenous drugs, and being in crisis situations, such as being homeless or at risk of an overdose. Youth perceived that most services were geared towards this population and therefore not for them. Many described suffering from “ imposter syndrome ” fearing that they would be taking space away from others who needed it more or judged by services providers for accessing services they did not ‘need’:

“...that idea that you could go get help for your drug use without it – without you being some stereotype of an addict, right?... like there’s different severities of addiction, or you could not have an addiction but also still have some sort of issue related to substance use that should be dealt with. I think my biggest fear as a person with anxiety, through all aspects of accessing health care, is that...I am gonna go to the doctor and they’re going to say ‘Oh my god what an idiot, she doesn’t need to be here, I’m just going to give her something to shut her up’.”

Youth described feeling embarrassed or afraid of how people in the community (including friends, family, and service providers), would react to their substance use, not wanting to disappoint anyone or be stereotyped as an “ addict ”, a “ bad person ” or a “ criminal ”. Alternately, some youth were simply not ready to change their substance use behaviours and assumed this would be expected of them if they reached out for support. As one participant described: “A lot of people are under the idea that if they tell people about their problems, they’re just going to ship them off somewhere, and the only form of recovery is abstinence based, which is not at all helpful and way too intimidating.”

Youth also felt that substance use adverts were often irrelevant to their experiences, and that public health messaging was polarizing and unconvincing:

“I feel like maybe there could be a larger conversation about how drugs are fun, and we should stop – like that’s the thing, if everyone pretends that they’re not and that it’s all bad – that’s why people don’t believe you, they don’t believe what you’re saying, right? Drugs are really fun, that’s why they’re dangerous. That’s why people have addiction problems. They’re really fun until they’re not.”

“I think if they had signs that spoke more to the average college student who is maybe getting black out every weekend or popping zanies...instead I’m hearing about a 40-year old who’s been using hard drugs for like 20 years”.

Further, youth described how marijuana/cannabis and stimulant use were often disregarded, which are commonly used among youth and young adults [ 24 ]. For example, participants described the lack of recognition marijuana/cannabis has as being an addictive substance for some people, which invalidated their experiences. Hence, youth struggled to understand when their substance use “hit a threshold of bad enough to bother public health services” and therefore often only reached out for support when in crisis: “What stopped me from accessing services after this initial attempt was me just second-guessing that I actually had an issue ”.

Youth expressed wanting more information about the neuroscience of addiction, and how to differentiate between substance use, abuse, and disorder to reduce feelings of shame and increase their ability to identify when they should reach out for support. Youth also appreciated learning that substances affect people differently, which validated their experiences : “I learned that it’s very different for everyone....and I was like ‘Oh, I didn’t think there was anybody like me’. So it was this amazing thing, learning that I’m not the only high schooler struggling with this.”

Youth were more likely to reach out to friends for support; however, participants reported that the normalization of substance use among youth meant peers often did not take issues seriously and therefore could not be an effective source of support long-term. This also strengthened participants’ self-doubt about whether their issues warranted support from health and social services, often delaying accessing to care.

Service accessibility: youth encounter many barriers finding substance use services and information “zero to 100”

When youth were ready to access services and information for their substance use, they encountered many barriers. Youth expressed not knowing what services and supports were available, or which services they would benefit from: “It seems like through my searching, it’s either you can get counselling, or you can reach out for people – to health professionals to chat with on a hotline. Or it goes from zero to 100 where you have to get admitted to a rehab treatment program.”

Youth expressed a lack of available information about substance use and services and identified a need to reach those who were not already actively accessing services. This included advertising about different service options in schools, coffee shops, bars, and social media. “I would’ve never went up and asked somebody about it [information about substance use services] or looked it up on the internet. That just wasn’t an interest at all.... I feel like it’s got to be in schools where you can just plain and broad see it in the office or have school counsellors talk about it.” Youth also wanted more information provided in schools about the long-term effects of different substances, harm reduction, and how lifestyle choices and emotional regulation can play a role in substance use behaviours.

Having information more widely available was also identified to “ help break the stigma” by increasing people’s awareness about substance use and available supports. Youth often had to research information independently, which had its own barriers. This included not knowing what to look for or where to start, a lack of information about services listed on service websites, requiring further research through phone calls and emails, and a lack of service options available. As one youth described:

“When I saw people talking about their problems on social media...it just made me realize there’s so much other treatments out there that are just very simple. Like, you can honestly learn breathing techniques...or like cognitive behavioural therapy or all these other things...I guess for people to be able to talk about it – people don’t really see what is cognitive behavioural therapy online, you have to search it up yourself. But for some companies being able to express what it is, express what their services are, it would be able to give an idea to some people.”

When trying to access services, youth described encountering other challenges, including long wait times, challenges getting to appointments (e.g., lack of transportation), limited hours of operation, and a lack of services available, including a lack of affordable services, especially for specialized care (e.g., service providers specializing in substance use, LGBTQ2S+, etc.). A lack of referrals between services was also a barrier to receiving care, placing the responsibility on the youth to reconnect with care, which required them to continuously retell their story. Youth also felt like service providers tended to withhold information about service options based on their level of perceived need, which was often inaccurate, and thus, felt they needed to appear more in crisis to receive more options:

“They [service providers] will withhold certain information from you based on what your need is, because I feel like they try to assess people, and they place them on a sliding scale of like, “Who needs one more?” Which is why I didn’t really like that because … a lot of… supports only became available to me after I had been in the hospital, when I feel like I would’ve benefitted from the support even more, like beforehand.”

Service delivery: importance of meeting youth where they are at

For youth who accessed substance use services, their care experiences varied widely depending on their interactions with their service providers, with some who “ genuinely listened ” and “ took their time to make a connection ”, while others were described as “ uncompassionate ” and ‘ don’t really understand what I’m going through’ . Youth wanted to be “ treated with the same respect and dignity like anyone ” but described being treated like children, as though they were being “ lectured by a parent ” or treated as though incapable of making good decisions for themselves. Youth described “ not being taken seriously” and their issues often “ pushed aside” for not fitting a certain “ stereotype ”. For example, one participant expressed: “I was a really good student, I had a really good home life, and everything was, on the outside, literally perfect. And there was kind of that stigma around “You don’t have any problems, why would you have problems?”.” This strengthened youths’ perceptions that substance use services were not for them and prevented them from accessing further support. As one youth described their experience after an overdose:

“When they had asked me my age and I had told them my age, they were like, ‘Oh my goodness. What are you doing?’ And it was just a random nurse. It wasn’t actually anyone trained, but I just felt like, ‘Wow. Maybe I should go home’. Even though I really needed to be there, it was just hard to not get up and run.”

Youth recognized the importance of crisis-oriented services; however they expressed that “the goal should be preventing crisis rather than just helping people when they get there.” This implied taking youth’s concerns at face value, regardless of how service providers perceived their situation:

“Yeah, I guess assuming that people are asking for help because they really need it, and because... people that are good at holding it together, that have extreme privilege, that look like they’re healthy and making it work, they’re still accessing services for a reason and maybe to include more of a preventative mind frame in their model of care in the sense that, this person may be not be at their worst right now, and that’s actually wonderful that they’re here before that happens, so let’s take this seriously and try to work with them before, you know, they look like they need help.”

Having a service provider who took additional steps to support them, such as providing rides, meeting them in more casual settings, and checking in with them regularly, made youth feel genuinely cared for and increased their likelihood of returning. As one youth described:

“I found that they checked in a lot and it made me feel like they actually cared. You know what I mean? It’s not like just because I’m not there in that moment seeing them... Sometimes, I’d get a text or a phone call being like, “Hey, what are you doing? I haven’t you seen in a while.” You know what I mean? And I had a period of time with the counsellor that I was seeing that I literally ignored her calls for 2 months and [she] was still calling me and leaving voice mails. Even though I wasn’t answering and speaking to her, I still felt like, "Wow, she actually gives a shit. She's still trying to communicate and be there even though I’m not putting the same effort back.”

Being able to connect with someone of similar age, gender, and race/ethnicity generally made it easier for youth to relate to their service provider, however this varied and highlighted the importance of providing youth with options to choose from. Youth described being more comfortable talking to someone who could relate to them and had their own lived experiences. Hearing about similar experiences helped youth feel “ normal ” and validated. This came in the form of peer support, friends, support groups, and online forums such as Reddit and Facebook groups. However, some youth described hesitancy accessing peer support services given that peers may not have received any formal substance use training. Meanwhile, some youth assumed their problems would not compare to the lived experiences of peer support workers, and therefore did not see its value. As one youth described “Hearing [about] other people’s problems...[it] reminds me that other people have gone through wars and made it out of wars, which is like, would be comforting for some people, but for me, makes me feel like [I should] “get over it”.”

Youth desired a holistic approach to care, where all aspects of their life were considered rather than solely focusing on their substance use. As one participant describes: “It wasn’t just substance abuse going on for me, so programs kind of like CBT again, it kind of helps you deal with emotions no matter what way you choose to cope...I think just more effort to get to the root of the problem instead of just trying to stop the symptom.” Focusing on accomplishments rather than abstinence was important, as abstinence was not always young people’s objective for accessing services. Setting more attainable and flexible goals also reduced pressures associated with potential relapses, which were often a source of shame. Having providers who rejected the “ all or nothing approach ” made youth feel more confident and comfortable admitting setbacks.

Addressing mental health concerns was also a priority for most youth, many for whom it had been the primary reason for their service visit. “When I started talking about my mental health as a factor in substance abuse rather than two different things...once I figured out what works for me...and that [mental health] was more stable, everything fell into place after that.” Other factors youth wanted service providers to consider included traumatic experiences, parental substance use, school and work stress, social pressures, and relationship issues. Youth also found it helpful when service providers helped them build recovery capital, including helping them meet their basic needs, recommending school and employment programs, and finding activities and healthy habits. As one youth described “We talked about lots of different ways to cope and things that do not necessarily have anything to do with my substance use, such as eating habits and exercising and study habits when I’m in school. Those really impact me. When those are going well, then it is easier for me to heal from my substance use.”

Youth experience many challenges engaging with existing substance use services in BC as they are currently delivered. Participants in our study described their perceptions towards substance use and their experiences trying to navigate services, and they reflected on multi-level barriers associated with accessing information and support. Throughout these discussions, youth described how the crisis-oriented state of the current health care system leaves many of their needs unmet, calling for a more youth-centred and driven preventative and early intervention approach for diverse youth across BC.

In accordance with the Canadian Drugs and Substances Strategy [ 38 ], all three themes demonstrate a clear need to prioritize substance use prevention and early intervention specifically targeting youth. Youth are in the early phase of substance use, which presents a critical opportunity to reduce potential related harms, including SUDs. However, many existing prevention programs and early interventions have shown limited effectiveness in reducing substance use and associated harms among youth [ 39 ], and very few youths receive evidence-based substance use prevention and education [ 40 , 41 ]. Hanley et al. [ 41 ] reported only 35% of schools in the United States used evidence-based programing, and that only 14% used evidence-based strategies as their primary source of programming. Programs like D.A.R.E. are still being used [ 42 ], which focus on the potential negative consequences associated with substance use to deter young people from using, rather than acknowledging their place in society [ 43 , 44 ]. This approach fails to acknowledge that youth often use substances for enjoyment and social benefits, rather than solely responding to distress [ 44 , 45 ], leading to unconvincing public health messages that fail to resonate with youth.

Following the principles of the Canadian Standards for Community-Based Youth Substance Abuse Prevention [ 46 ], substance use prevention and education should be informed by youth to ensure messaging is relevant to their experiences and is effective in providing youth with the tools needed to make informed decisions about substance use. Moffat et al. [ 47 ] reported that involving youth in prevention efforts helped develop public health recommendations about cannabis that were less ambiguous and stimulated productive conversations among youth about the associated risks. A systematic review on the involvement of youth in substance use prevention efforts also reported that these practices increased youths’ knowledge about substance use and supported the development of prevention interventions that were specifically tailored to the needs of the community [ 48 ].

Youth participants also highlighted the benefits of hearing from peer experiences and advocated for more opportunities for peers to talk in schools. Although there has been increasing evidence supporting the effectiveness of peer-led programs in reducing substance use and associated harms, peers remain largely underutilized in substance use prevention efforts [ 49 , 50 ]. These findings underline the importance of reducing stigma and discrimination against people who use substances, so that peers can be actively engaged in programs design and delivery. However, the findings from this study also indicates that youth may worry about peers invalidating their own experiences through self-disclosure, highlighting the different preferences among youth. This also suggests that the purpose of self-disclosure may need to be better conveyed to youth as a tool to help build common humanity and trust rather than the focus of peer roles.

The study also highlighted that preventative efforts are not only important in school settings but should also be applied in other healthcare settings. As youth from this study explained, services should address the motivations for using substances from a holistic perspective rather than trying to treat substance use alone, requiring an individualized approach. Concurrent mental health disorders, including internalizing (e.g., anxiety, depression) and externalizing disorders (e.g., attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder) are common among youth and are often linked to substance use issues, highlighting the importance of diagnosing and treating substance use and mental health concerns simultaneously [ 22 , 51 ]. However, our results emphasized that the current fragmented state of the healthcare system makes this approach challenging for young people and their families. As many youths access the healthcare system for reasons other than substance use concerns, substance use screening and brief interventions need to occur in a variety of health care settings, accompanied with proper staff training. This approach has been proven to be effective in reducing substance use and violence among youth by screening for substance use in schools, emergency departments, and primary care settings among high-risk youth [ 52 ]. However, this study suggests that substance use screening should be applied more broadly and intentionally integrated as youth may not present external signs of problematic substance use and may not feel comfortable bringing it up unless explicitly asked or in crisis. Providing service providers with training on how to provide culturally safe care to youth who use substances is imperative for this approach to be effective and maintain trusting relationships with youth, given young people’s fears of being stigmatized and judged when accessing services [ 53 , 54 ].

There has been increasing evidence supporting the benefits of an integrated approach to address substance use and mental health concerns among youth, which would facilitate the early identification of possible substance use issues [ 21 ]. Although several barriers can impede the implementation of such services (e.g., organizational-level barriers, distinct health financing systems, and having to train providers in multiple disciplines) [ 54 ], this model of care has been successfully implemented in Australia (Headspace) [ 55 ], Ireland (Jigsaw) [ 56 ], and Canada (Foundry, Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario, ACCESS Open Minds, and YouthCAN Impact) [ 21 , 57 ]. This framework has the potential to increase service provider awareness about the complexities associated with substance use and facilitate the delivery of a wide range of services to support recovery, such as primary care, financial assistance, supportive housing, employment, education, and family support. Given youths’ hesitancy to discuss substance use issues with health care providers, this framework should also integrate peer support services to provide youth with a relatable point of contact to discuss issues without fear of judgment or negative consequences [ 21 ]. Although peer support has been associated with positive treatment outcomes [ 58 ], this study suggests that these services need to be better integrated and conveyed to youth who may benefit.

The service accessibility barriers described by youth in this study reflect the undeniable need to increase the service system’s capacity to provide substance use services. These barriers are consistent with other Canadian studies [ 26 , 59 , 60 ], including a study conducted with youth in urban, rural, and remote Ontario [ 59 ] who described a general lack of substance use services available, low service awareness by youth, and a lack of coordination and collaboration between services. Family members in this study validated these challenges as they described trying to navigate the system for and/or with their young person, which was further substantiated by caregivers trying to navigate youth opioid treatment services in BC (Marchand KM, Turuba R, Katan C, Brasset C, Fogarty O, Tallon C, et al: Becoming our young people’s case managers:Caregivers’ experiences, needs, and ideas for improving opioid use treatments for young people using opioids, Under review). Given the increasing harms associated with the opioid crisis [ 7 ], coordinated efforts across all levels of government and multiple sectors are imperative to improving young people’s access to substance use services and create space, not only for youth in dire need of these services, but for those trying to address substance use concerns proactively.

This study had several limitations. Participants were recruited through Foundry social media channels and targeted advertisements, therefore youth who had access to a phone or a computer and followed mental health and/or substance use organizations were more likely to hear about the study. Consequently, our sample mainly included youth who were actively employed and in school and living in stable living environments. Yet, similar accessibility barriers are described by street-entrenched youth in Ontario [ 27 ] and British Columbia [ 30 ], including long wait times and difficulties seeking support due to stigma, as well as negative experiences with abstinent-based approaches, highlighting young people’s desire for holistic care regardless of substance use patterns. Although we tried to recruit through several health and social services across the province, the COVID-19 pandemic likely limited organizations’ capacity to support with local promotion. Further, we were only able to recruit 1 youth between the ages of 12–15, likely due to our inability to recruit through schools and need for parental consent, which hindered our ability to identify potential differences in substance use service perceptions and experiences between adolescents and young adults. Given the important life transitions that occur between adolescence and young adulthood, future studies exploring these differences are important as different prevention and early intervention approaches may be warranted. Exploring how perceptions and experiences differ across communities could also be an important consideration for future research to better understand how geographic location, including urban and rural differences, impacts young peoples’ access to services. Despite these limitations, the findings of this study have important implications in the way we co-design and deliver substance use services to youth. They also have important considerations for policy makers who are considering how to shape substance use services for diverse youth in their jurisdictions.

This study highlights the many challenges youth experience when engaging with substance use services and emphasizes a need for a more preventative approach. The lack of integration and capacity among service providers to provide substance use services implies that youth who have milder treatment needs and/or do not meet the diagnosis criteria of SUD often do not have access to adequate substance use service interventions. Research, health service, and policy efforts should focus on substance use prevention and early interventions to address young people’s concerns before they are in crisis and increase their ability to perceive the need to reach out for support. Moving forward, it is critical that diverse youth and peers with lived and/or living experience be involved in these efforts, including the co-design of new services and evaluation of impact of prevention and early intervention services, including quality improvement efforts. Intentional, sustained investment in youth substance use services will optimize the health outcomes and experiences of young people across BC, transformation that young people can no longer patiently wait for.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets generated and analysed during the current study are not publicly available due to the potential for identifying participants but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable requests.

Abbreviations

British Columbia

Drug Abuse Resistance Education

3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine

• Participatory action research

Substance use disorder

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Acknowledgements

The Experience Project is grateful to have taken place on the ancestral lands of many different Indigenous Nations and Peoples across what we now call British Columbia. We are also very grateful to the Youth4Youth Advisory Committee who supported the research and the participants who shared their experiences and insights with us.

The Experience Project has been made possible through the financial contributions of Health Canada under their Substance Use and Addiction Program. The views herein do not necessarily represent the views of Health Canada. Author Kirsten Marchand is supported by a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research/Centre for Health Evaluation & Outcome Sciences Research Trainee award and author Skye Barbic by a Scholar grant funded by the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research.

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Turuba, R., Amarasekera, A., Howard, A.M. et al. A qualitative study exploring how young people perceive and experience substance use services in British Columbia, Canada. Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy 17 , 43 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13011-022-00456-4

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‘Speaking of Youth Culture’: A Critical Analysis of Contemporary Youth Cultural Practice

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For a number of years, theorists have suggested that the term ‘youth culture’ corresponds with particularized forms of youth cultural practice clustered around the more spectacular manifestation of the consumption of music, style, and associated objects, images, and texts. However, such a focus serves to close off any discussion of ‘ordinary’ youth, that is, those young people who are not obvious, card-carrying members of style-based youth cultures. With the increasing turn in academic research to issues of youth leisure and lifestyle in more mundane contexts, combined with a growing body of work focusing on youth’s online practices, questions now need to be asked about the value, and validity, of focusing on ‘youth culture’ as this term has hitherto been defined and applied in sociology, cultural/media studies, and other academic disciplines interested in the cultural practices of youth. Aligned with this is the blurring now evident between youth culture as an age-specific practice and as a series of discourses through which individuals who are far beyond any categorization as ‘youth’ based on age continue to invest in ‘youth cultural’ identities. For example, many adults identify as punks, hard-core, or dance music fans, while simultaneously engaging with adult responsibilities and leading adult lives. This chapter will examine these and other challenges to our understanding of the term ‘youth culture’ and consider whether the latter continues to be a valid conceptual and analytical category.

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Bennett, A. (2015). ‘Speaking of Youth Culture’: A Critical Analysis of Contemporary Youth Cultural Practice. In: Woodman, D., Bennett, A. (eds) Youth Cultures, Transitions, and Generations. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137377234_4

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10 Questions for Young Changemakers

• Youth Participatory Action Research

Melissa Strelke, a teacher at Frontier Regional High School at Deerfield, MA,  folded the Ten Questions framework into her school-wide youth participatory action research project for the 8th graders. ( The original post is " Example 5: Youth Participatory Action Research for the 8th Grade Civics " )

Youth Participatory Action Research for the 8th Grade Civics

• The 10 Questions
• Final Checklist

1. Why does it matter to me?

What is your passion? Where does it come from?

Start with the experiences and interests you and your friends already can’t get enough of, and connect that engagement to civic and political themes. Popular culture fandom, for example, is a great source to harness. Overall, you and your peers know a lot about a lot, and you’ve got all sorts of authentic ways to bring your friends on board. Use that expertise to build traction for your cause by finding unexpected alignments. And take the time to figure out why your passion matters to you.

→ Why does this issue matter to you? How does it affect you or others around you?

2. How much should I share?

Mind the risk. Once you put things out there online, it is nearly impossible to take them back.

Take heed: real names can help foster better dialogues, but they can also put people at risk and discourage taking positions or acting on controversial issues. Consider how much you should share. Which part of your persona do you want to see live online? Can you keep your offline and online selves separate? If so, how? Or do you have to expect them to merge? Which features of your offline responsibilities and roles should limit what you do online? Help your community consider how different audiences may react to their posts and how a post might impact them years down the road. Give them choices about how much to disclose, and make it possible for them to change their minds.

→ Decide how much you want to share about WHY this issue matters to you. Perhaps you want to share some personal thoughts and stories, but not everything.

3. How do I make it more than just myself?

It’s not just about me, but for us.

How can you and your community take it from “I” to “we”? Help your users think of themselves as part of something bigger. Can you expand the network of engagement for yourself and your users by actively rewarding authenticity, accuracy, truth-telling, and bridge-building across social divides?

→ Define your issue.

→ Research your issue and find supporting evidence that quantifies and qualifies your issue.

4. Where do we start?

Go where your peers go.

Can you make use of spaces where you and your friends and associates already gather to connect and pursue shared interests? (Hint: for right now at least, text and mobile are key). Perhaps you’re interested in building a stand-alone platform? Think twice before you do. A custom platform is easier for opponents to hack and probably harder for your friends to use, than a common mainstream, commercial platform. But remember that existing platforms have their own cultures, which you’ll need to consider and fit into.

→ Consider where you see your issue in your community.

→ What are people in your community saying about this issue?

5. How can we make is easy and engaging for others to join in?

Remember that some engagement is better than none.

Think early and often about your target audience. How can you engineer an array of entry-points and pathways to participation for your community? Where are the opportunities for light-touch engagement that is potentially powerful in itself and also a possible gateway into deeper involvement? Make acting easy, so your users can co-produce your civic and political engagement.

→ Brainstorm ways you get others in your community to help you with this issue?

6. How do we get wisdom from crowds?

Invite investigation and critique.

Create openings for your friends, associates, and even strangers to dig into, verify, challenge, and contribute to the knowledge-base you provide, and stay open to evolving purposes. Don’t act like you know the whole story. Because you don’t. There is wisdom in crowds.

→ Conduct data surveys and analyze the results.

→ Conduct interviews or find diverse perspectives on your issue.

7. How do we handle the downside from crowds?

Be prepared for people to say and do things you don't like in your shared space.

Do you know how you would respond? Is your platform or digital strategy being overtaken by a sub-group of users? How can you keep the nastiness out of crowds? Do you need moderators? Algorithms? Special functions? The goal is to keep your community open and democratic, and that also means protecting it from those who misuse that freedom and opportunity.

→ How would you respond to those who may disagree with you?

8. Are we pursing voice, influence, or both?

Raising awareness is key.

Changing what people care about already makes a difference, and just getting your views into the public conversation is meaningful. Making the invisible visible is already an important civic and political action and a form of activism. Are you also trying to drive change beyond visibility? You’ll need that raised awareness to elevate civic and political engagement over time.

→ Consider what awareness you want to spread, what is needed, and the most effective form of spreading awareness in our school community.

9. How do we get from voice to change?

Is your goal to convert voice to influence over policies, institutions, or concrete practices ?

If so, you’ll need to move beyond raising awareness to mobilize specific actions on the basis of the attention you manage to get. How can you get traction—real change in concrete practices, institutions, and policies? The research shows that this often comes from a mix of digital and face-to-face organizing. But it’s also possible to achieve influence with online-only tactics. Make sure you know what your targets are, and what changes you want to see. Then you can figure out whether building numbers online and taking aim at your target’s reputation, or criss-crossing the line into hybrid online-offline efforts makes more sense.

→ How do you get from spreading awareness about your issue to creating a positive change in regards to your issue? What ACTIONS can you and your community do right now to create change?

10. How can we find allies?

How can we amplify our influence and scale it up?

It makes sense to call on institutional power holders like established organizations or influential individuals who can support your interests. Gaining influence requires building alliances with people who control decisions over policies and institutions. But it can be hard to reach people in power. What’s more, how can you engage with power players in a way that benefits your cause and also empowers you? The answer often involves connecting with allies who can provide mentorship and broker on your behalf, being creative in your methods, and seeking elites in a variety of places--sometimes beyond the usual suspects.

→ What can those who agree with you do to help? What is something they can do right now to create change and become a part of the community?

Group Presentations:

The goal of your presentation is to discuss the process and lead the audience through the important decisions you made.

• Identify and define your issue
• Why does it matter to you?
• What ideas did you generate?
• What failed? Why?
• What succeeded? Why?
• What was your action? (How did you make it easy and engaging for others to join in?)
• What challenges did you face with your action? (How do we get from voice to change?)
• What are your hopes for the future?
• What are the next steps you will take?
• What are the next steps your community should take?
• OPTIONAL- Google Slides/ Prezi/ PowerPoint

Group Booth Displays:

The goal of these booth displays is to deeply inform your audience about your issue and spread awareness. They should include suggestions of simple actions your visitors can do to help fix the issue. (OPTIONAL- This booth may also serve as a way for you to carry out your action as well.)

• Display MLA CITED (use NoodleTools) researched graphs and statistics
• Display your collected DATA and ANALYSIS
• Include facts that are in YOUR OWN WORDS
• Display solutions to your issue (these should be BOTH what visitors can do as well as your greater community)

OPTIONAL- Incorporate your action (i.e. writing letters, pledging, etc.)

10 Questions Primer

• Facing History using the Ten Questions
• Reflecting on DREAMers in Times of Uncertainty
• Unsung Women Change Agents
• Getting into Question One
• Bending the Arc
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• Visual Ques
• 10 Questions Infographic
• Civic Case Study
• Other Examples
• Teaching Guide
• 10Qs Resources A to Z (Padlet)

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Grade 8 civics workbook available online, student-led civics workbook, facing history and ourselves with 10 questions for young changemakers –– student activism, facing history with the ypp action frame––focusing on eyes on the prize: ain’t scared of your jails, danielle allen on civic agency in a digital age.

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A qualitative investigation of LGBTQ+ young people’s experiences and perceptions of self-managing their mental health

1 Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, London, UK

Daniel Hayes

2 The Evidence Based Practice Unit, Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, London, UK

Peter Fonagy

Emily stapley, associated data.

Due to challenges in ensuring the anonymity of qualitative data, these data are not available to other researchers.

There is evidence that young people generally self-manage their mental health using self-care strategies, coping methods and other self-management techniques, which may better meet their needs or be preferable to attending specialist mental health services. LGBTQ+ young people are more likely than their peers to experience a mental health difficulty and may be less likely to draw on specialist support due to fears of discrimination. However, little is known about LGBTQ+ young people’s experiences and perceptions of self-managing their mental health. Using a multimodal qualitative design, 20 LGBTQ+ young people participated in a telephone interview or an online focus group. A semi-structured schedule was employed to address the research questions, which focussed on LGBTQ+ young people’s experiences and perceptions of self-managing their mental health, what they perceived to stop or help them to self-manage and any perceived challenges to self-management specifically relating to being LGBTQ+ . Reflexive thematic analysis yielded three key themes: (1) self-management strategies and process, (2) barriers to self-management and (3) facilitators to self-management. Participants’ most frequently mentioned self-management strategy was ‘speaking to or meeting up with friends or a partner’. Both barriers and facilitators to self-management were identified which participants perceived to relate to LGBTQ+ identity. Social support, LGBTQ+ youth groups and community support were identified as key facilitators to participants’ self-management of their mental health, which merits further investigation in future research. These findings also have important implications for policy and intervention development concerning LGBTQ+ young people’s mental health.

Introduction

Self-management has been defined as, “[t]he taking of responsibility for one's own behaviour and wellbeing” [ 1 , p. 1]. There is a lack of conceptual clarity in the self-management literature, as evidenced by multiple conflicting definitions to describe the concept [ 2 ]. For example, one study of chronic disease in older adults argued there is a distinction between ‘self-care’ as preventative and ‘self-management’ as managing the impact of a current difficulty or disease [ 3 ]. However, in mental health, as probably in many other long-term conditions, this distinction does not hold up, with interventions involving elements of self-management and self-care being used preventatively to identify and manage the early warning signs of manic episodes in bipolar disorder [ 4 ]. A recent study highlights the crossover between self-management and self-care in youth mental health by detailing strategies, such as meditation or deep breathing, which could be used for both illness prevention and management of existing symptoms [ 5 ]. Thus, it is likely that the terms self-management and self-care in the context of mental health are not mutually exclusive and may lie on a continuum of techniques and strategies.

In the last few decades, self-management has expanded from long-term illness toward youth mental health. The idea of caring for or managing oneself is appearing with increasing frequency in published research [ 5 , 6 ], United Kingdom (UK) policy [ 7 , 8 ] and reports from charities and health bodies [ 9 , 10 ]. This may be due to rising societal awareness of the heightened prevalence of mental health difficulties in young people in the UK (NHS Digital, 2018) and long wait times to access specialist youth mental health support [ 11 ]. In turn, attempts to facilitate the use of alternative or additional support options which better meet the needs of young people, are person-centred and exist in the places they ordinarily go have also increased in recent years [ 12 ]. Indeed, young people themselves have said that the efficacy of self-help and self-management resources, approaches and techniques should be a top research priority in relation to youth mental health interventions and services [ 13 ].

In young people’s mental health, self-management strategies could include self-care approaches [e.g., 5 ], unguided self-help interventions [e.g., 14 ] and coping or emotion regulation strategies [ 6 ]. For young people, strategies that can be employed on one’s own have been described as non-professionally mediated interventions [ 5 ]. Despite burgeoning interest in this area, there is a dearth of research investigating the nuances of self-management in young people’s mental health, particularly for young people whose difficulties may not be chronic, are undiagnosed or are below clinical thresholds. This group may be of particular importance if self-care happens to differentiate those who remain sub-threshold from those who are diagnosable and seek professional help. Such investigations are warranted to clarify the concept of self-management and understand what young people perceive they are doing to self-manage their mental health, which in turn will enable self-management strategies recommended to young people to be evidence-informed and better meet their needs.

In looking at the success (or otherwise) of health management strategies at a population level, it makes sense to look at groups at particularly high risk. Among socially excluded groups, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) young people, there is a higher prevalence of mental health difficulties [ 15 ]. One in three LGBTQ+ young people in the UK will experience a mental health difficulty [ 15 ], and this figure is greater than the one in eight young people in the general population who will experience a mental health difficulty [ 15 ]. Evidence suggests that sexual minority adolescents are also more likely than their heterosexual peers to experience high levels of depressive symptoms, self-harm, lower life satisfaction and lower self-esteem [ 16 ]. The minority stress model posits the higher prevalence of mental health difficulties in the LGBTQ+ community is due to their experience of hostile social environments fuelled by prejudice, discrimination and stigma [ 17 ].

When a difficulty is encountered, there is evidence that LGBTQ+ people are less likely to access health services due to fear of discrimination [ 18 ], with mental health services perceived to be the most discriminatory amongst health services [ 19 ]. LGBTQ+ people also experience higher dissatisfaction with health services than heterosexual people [ 19 ]. As they are less likely to access health services, it is possible that LGBTQ+ young people are already using strategies to self-manage their mental health, although to-date, there has been no research into this. It is possible that LGBTQ+ young people are forced to self-manage their mental health due to a desire to avoid stigmatising services, and it may be possible that they may have developed particularly effective and robust strategies which may be useful to learn more about. Further research in this area could particularly benefit a group which is often overlooked, marginalised and for whom the pressures of daily life may be greater than their heterosexual or cisgender peers. This research will also enable us to see if LGBTQ+ young people need additional help in self-management and how this process might be facilitated for them.

Recently, a survey showed that 72% of LGBTQ+ young people in Northern Ireland use the Internet and social networks as a source of information or support [ 20 ], suggesting the potential utility of these formats for the distribution of information about self-management. However, a review of qualitative research related to LGBTQ+ young people’s mental health highlighted that many LGBTQ+ young people feel they need more support from their school, community and mental health providers as well as more information [ 21 ]. It is also not known what factors stop or help LGBTQ+ young people to self-manage their mental health. Research into this area is needed to ensure that the strategies and techniques LGBTQ+ young people are using and being recommended to self-manage their mental health are safe, evidence-based and have a positive impact on mental health outcomes.

To better understand the helpfulness of self-management strategies for LGBTQ+ young people’s mental health, and to potentially facilitate LGBTQ+ young people’s self-management of their mental health, there is a need to investigate which strategies LGBTQ+ young people are already using and those that they find helpful, as well as the perceived barriers and facilitators to successful self-management of their mental health. The current study attempts to address this gap in the literature and highlight the self-management process from the perspective of LGBTQ+ young people to learn more about specific factors affecting self-management of mental health for this group.

Research questions

• What are LGBTQ+ young people’s experiences and opinions of using strategies or techniques to self-manage their mental health?
• What are LGBTQ+ young people’s perceptions of what stops them from or helps them to self-manage their mental health?
• What are LGBTQ+ young people’s perceptions of specific challenges (if any) for LGBTQ+ young people in self-managing their mental health?

Participants

Recruitment and sampling strategy.

During the two-month sampling period, young people from diverse ages, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations and geographical locations in the UK (including major metropolitan areas and rural areas, as well as areas known to have a significant LGBTQ+ presence and those not known for this) were recruited. The primary researcher contacted organisations specialising in gender diversity as well as general LGBTQ+ youth groups. Collecting these data and involving LGBTQ+ people in research can help to send a signal that their views and preferences are taken seriously and valued [ 18 ].

On the basis of accessing a wide range of views, a total of 85 LGBTQ+ youth groups or associated organisations, 12 LGBTQ+ University Societies, three post-graduate student cohorts and one participation group were identified via a Google search and the primary researcher’s existing organisational contacts and invited to participate in this research via email by the primary researcher. Staff from 40 interested groups were asked to distribute expression of interest forms to the young people they worked with along with a brief description of the project.

Following guidelines for reflexive thematic analysis, a sample size determined by saturation was not established before starting data collection [ 22 ]. Saturation is “the point at which no new information, codes or themes are yielded from data” [ 23 , p. 2]. Diversity of the sample and richness of the data were monitored during sampling. The decision to stop sampling at 20 participants was based on three considerations: sufficient diversity of the sample, quality or richness of the data being collected in relation to the research questions and the practical capacity of the primary researcher.

Demographic information

Of the 20 young people who participated in this study, their ages ranged from 13 to 24 years ( M  = 19.30, SD = 3.37).

In terms of gender identity, 12 participants identified as female, four preferred to self-describe, three identified as male and one preferred not to say. Self-described gender identities included nonbinary, gender queer and asexual. A total of 13 participants stated that their gender identity was the same as the sex assigned to them at birth, six as not the same as the sex assigned to them at birth, and one preferred not to say.

Regarding sexual orientation, eight participants preferred to self-describe, six identified as bi, four as a gay woman/lesbian, one as a gay man and one as heterosexual. Self-described sexual orientations included queer, questioning, pansexual, homoromantic asexual and asexual biromantic.

In terms of ethnicity, 13 participants identified as White—British, two as White—any other white background, one as White—Irish, one as Asian—Indian, one as mixed—White and Asian, one as Mixed—White and Black Caribbean and one as any other ethnic group—Persian.

Ethical considerations

Ethical approval for this study was obtained from the University College London Research Ethics Committee (Project ID: 17641/001). During the consent process, young people were reminded that they could leave the interview or focus group at any time without giving a reason and still receive a £10 voucher, which was offered to all participants. Parent/carer consent was obtained for participants under the age of 16, which was followed by assent from these participants. Participants were informed that interviews and focus groups would be kept confidential, barring the disclosure of harm to the participant or another person.

Data collection

A total of 20 young people participated in either an online focus group ( n  = 4 participants across two focus groups), or in a one-to-one telephone interview ( n  = 16 participants) over the one-month data collection period. Interviews and focus groups were conducted remotely via video call or phone owing to COVID-19-related restrictions on in-person contact.

Semi-structured interview and focus group schedules were developed by the primary researcher. This format allowed the researcher to ask open-ended questions to elicit information about participants’ thoughts, feelings and beliefs in relation to self-management [ 24 ]. Questions explored participants’ perceptions of the term ‘self-management’, the types of self-management strategies and techniques they perceived themselves to be using, and anything that stopped or helped them to self-manage. There was also an additional question relating to specific challenges experienced by the LGBTQ+ community in terms of self-management.

During the pilot phase of this research, the interview and focus group schedules were modified to include several follow-up questions if a young person mentioned the first COVID-19 lockdown in the UK (beginning in late-March 2020), or any other time-specific period, to investigate how participants’ experiences of self-management may by influenced by time and context. This decision allowed for discussion around the impact of the first COVID-19 lockdown in the UK as and when it came up, as the interviews and focus groups were conducted during this period. A decision was also made during the piloting phase to move solely to conducting individual interviews, rather than focus groups, due to the richness and highly personal nature of the data that was elicited in the interviews.

Data analysis

Thematic analysis.

The data were analysed to answer the three research questions following guidelines for reflexive thematic analysis [ 22 ] and drawing on the step-by-step process developed by Braun and Clarke [ 25 ]. This involved checking the transcripts against the audio files, reading the data in its entirety multiple times and taking notes, creating ‘codes’ which captured interesting aspects of the data systematically across the entire data set, bringing the codes and corresponding data extracts together into initial themes, checking that the themes captured the essence of the data extracts, continuing to refine and analyse each of the themes, and finally producing a report featuring vivid examples from the data extracts for each theme [ 25 ].

A second researcher (ES) reviewed the initial coding structure once it had been generated by the primary researcher to check that the codes reflected the content of the included data excerpts. After this, the primary researcher further refined the codes and began to group the codes into themes and subthemes, i.e., overarching categories encompassing all of the included codes. The primary researcher then checked that the codes and included data reflected each of the themes.

Epistemological stance

The primary researcher holds a realist ontological and relativist epistemological stance in relation to the analysis of these data. This can be described as a critical realist approach, which asserts that a reality independent from subjective experience exists, while situating the findings of this research in the belief that it is not possible to objectively understand or fully access this reality [ 26 ]. The primary researcher also acknowledges that the manner in which participants perceive reality is subjective. In other words, different people interpret reality in different ways, given that “knowledge is always situated” [ 27 , p. 7]. Thus, the analysis focuses primarily on the semantic or language-based themes identified in the dataset, with some investigation of the potential latent meanings of these themes, as well as the wider societal and cultural context. An inductive approach to analysing these data was taken, meaning that the results are data-driven [ 25 ].

Theme 1: Self-management strategies and process

Subtheme 1: list of strategies for self-management.

A total of 51 strategies for self-management of mental health were identified. These encompassed strategies participants perceived themselves to have personally used as well as those they perceived others to have used (see Table 1 ).

Specific self-management strategies and frequency mentioned

Participants’ most frequently mentioned self-management strategy was ‘speaking to or meeting up with friends or a partner’. This dovetails with the perceived importance of social support, which was identified as a facilitator to self-management. While this strategy involved someone other than the ‘self’, participants described how they self-initiated the help-seeking behaviour of reaching out to others for support with their mental health.

Having people speak to you about their own mental health can be very reassuring, ‘cause like helping someone does that, it makes you feel like helping yourself with your own mental health is a lot [more] feasible. (Interviewee 4)

Many of the strategies described by participants involved elements of balancing, distracting oneself from, or regulating thoughts or emotions through the process of participating in the self-management activity or strategy. For example, with regards to target shooting as a self-management strategy, one participant explained:

It's more about distracting yourself, letting your body cool down, and then, when you've cooled down, then you can have that rationalised, proportionate response. (Interviewee 7)

Subtheme 2: Awareness, reaction and prevention

Participants described a process of awareness, reaction and prevention in self-managing their mental health. In terms of awareness, participants highlighted the importance of noticing or paying attention to signs of good or deteriorating mental health.

Even if not actively working on figuring it out, just passively paying some mind to consider what kind of things are good for your mental health. (Interviewee 4)

In terms of reacting, participants described actively using self-management tools, strategies, techniques or skills to combat difficulties or problems they were experiencing, which could help them when they were feeling overwhelmed. In terms of prevention, being proactive and vigilant were also perceived to be important aspects of the self-management of participants’ mental health, even when they were not experiencing poor mental health.

So the proactive things I do are from a place where nothing bad is necessarily happening, and my mental health is not really flaring up or, or doing anything, um, particularly bad, or, or, particularly abnormal, but I aim to keep it that way by doing things in anticipation. (Interviewee 2)

Theme 2: Barriers to self-management

Subtheme 1: self-management can be hard work.

Nearly all participants ( n  = 18) described times when they felt too low, tired or not in the right mindset to self-manage their mental health, which could sometimes be exacerbated by experiencing mental illness or chronic pain. They also explained that sometimes attempts to self-manage could be unsuccessful, which could lead to feelings of discouragement or disappointment.

It can be very disheartening if you think, if it seems like you’re putting in all this effort and nothing’s coming of it. (Focus Group 2, Participant 1)

The actual process of self-management was described as tiring and time-consuming, with participants explaining they sometimes did not know what to do or where to start.

I feel like one of the biggest inhibitors of self-management is if your emotions get too loud and [if] those thoughts get too loud, it's very hard to try and think over them. (Interviewee 6)

Subtheme 2: Strategy-specific challenges

Participants perceived there to be negative or less helpful factors about some self-management strategies. For instance, regarding speaking to or meeting up with friends, one participant explained:

Especially if you’re just talking about how you’re having mental health problems to other people who have those problems all the time, it can kind of cause this, like, negative feedback loop um, with that. So that can be less helpful. (Interviewee 5)

Participants also mentioned self-management strategies or techniques which they had found to be unhelpful, ineffective or counterproductive, such as drinking alcohol, self-harming or repetitively washing their hands.

For a little period, I self-harmed... I was kind of looking for an outlet anywhere I could find at that moment. And, I'd, I’d never feel better afterwards, I'd feel worse. (Interviewee 9)

Subtheme 3: Wanting to wallow

Participants described feeling like they were sometimes their own worst enemy or wanting to wallow in the negative emotions they were feeling, which could prevent them from engaging in self-management. In this context, the ‘self’ was perceived to be a barrier to self-management.

If you just can’t bring yourself to do it, then, it, I found that you sort of end up wallowing in like, the sort of self-pity. (Interviewee 11)

Participants described feeling responsibility to self-manage their mental health. This was perceived to operate as a double-edged sword, both allowing participants to rely on themselves and be decisive, but also creating pressure and a sense that the onus was on them.

It’s like really hard knowing one day you’re going to have to be the one that is relatively solely responsible for, like, engaging in self-care and managing, like, your wellbeing. (Focus Group 2, Participant 2)

Subtheme 4: Fear of judgement

While participants perceived others to be important in helping them to self-manage their mental health, they also discussed factors which might hinder them from reaching out, such as feeling judged or thinking their family would be worried about them.

Like if I told [my family] what actually went on, they'd be kicking off and really worried and panicky. So, that isn't helpful. (Interviewee 7)

On the other hand, having a safe space or feeling safe to talk about their thoughts and emotions with others was viewed as helpful in self-managing participants’ mental health.

Having good supportive relationships and being in a space where I don’t feel very threatened or have any, any severe issues, uh, means that I can work on myself, uh, a lot better. (Interviewee 2)

Subtheme 5: Cultural and environmental challenges

Participants described ways in which culture and environment could influence self-management. It was highlighted by participants that there are different cultural understandings of self-management, which could cause people to view the concept differently from one another.

In (Foreign Language 1) it’s not that uh common to use like the word self-management or talk about emotional regulation. It’s not like integrated into the vocabulary. (Focus Group 1, Participant 1)

Participants also highlighted that some cultures have more challenges around accessing treatment, a different understanding of mental health, or a perception that mental illness is taboo. These challenges could also apply to certain generations within a particular culture, or over time as a culture became more progressive.

And, and I think in (Country 1), it’s just kind of taboo, like, in not, not so much anymore, but it’s just impossible to even, like, if you Google ‘mental health’, like, there will be fewer results. (Interviewee 12)

A perception was also highlighted that participants’ physical location could influence their ability to self-manage their mental health, particularly in environments not conducive to certain self-management strategies or techniques.

It depends on the environment you’re in. ‘Cause if you’re in, like, an education-based building in the middle of the day, it’s not like you can go to your bedroom and try and relax or whatever. (Interviewee 13)

A number of perceived challenges to self-management of mental health stemming from the COVID-19 lockdown in the UK were also discussed by participants. Participants perceived these challenges to negatively affect their ability to self-manage as well as damaging to their general mental health and wellbeing. They described reverting to behaviours indicative of poor mental health like repetitive handwashing, feeling anxiety about going outside, experiencing a lack of structure or routine, not being able to attend locations where they could participate in self-management strategies or enjoyable activities due to closures, not having a reason to get out of the house or to get out of bed, not being able to attend LGBTQ+ youth groups, experiencing an extension of waiting lists or difficulties in accessing mental health care, not being able to spend as much time with friends, work pressures increasing during the lockdown period, experiencing uncertainty and instability resulting from exams being cancelled and feeling anxiety about the pandemic and the future.

It was mostly just a very lengthy waiting list. Of course, it was exacerbated by the lockdown. (Interviewee 2)

Subtheme 6: Digital complexities

Participants mentioned a number of digital complexities relating to self-management and self-care. They perceived ‘self-care’ to be the most recognisable term owing to online promotion. Participants explained that this could lead to particular societal connotations of self-care which could be negative or centred around profit.

It just kind of has become this whole industry of bullet journals and things that I think make finding actual self-care a little complex. (Interviewee 12)

Participants described researching self-care and self-management online and accessing a ‘plethora of resources’ including online videos, Facebook groups, information about LGBTQ+ groups, information about counselling and professional help, information about different self-management strategies and online message boards.

So I, kind of, looked online and seeked advice and, you know, through mental health professionals included. (Interviewee 6)

However, participants did not always find these suggestions or resources helpful, and at times the abundance of available information could be perceived to be overwhelming.

Subtheme 7: ‘Outness’ affects self-management

Participants described how an LGBTQ+ person who was not completely out 1 might find it more challenging to self-manage, as they might have to self-manage on their own. Not being out was perceived to contribute to challenges around accessing therapy for LGBTQ+-related difficulties, not having social or school support around being LGBTQ+, not being able to access an LGBTQ+ youth group and not having access to judgement-free spaces.

I didn’t feel like I had anyone I could talk to about it, because I didn’t feel comfortable to come out to anyone yet. (Interviewee 4)

Nearly all participants ( n  = 18) perceived cultural or societal intolerance of LGBTQ+ people to have a profoundly negative impact on LGBTQ+ young people’s ability to self-manage their mental health, which was also influenced by their degree of ‘outness’. Participants discussed how they believed LGBTQ+ people were more likely to experience adverse events or trauma resulting from homophobia, transphobia, discrimination or a general lack of understanding or support from others. These were linked by participants to increased stress, a reduced capacity to cope, and internalised homophobia.

I have a lot of in-built insecurities that I didn’t experience until I came out, and a lot of sadness and trauma inherited from the community almost. And so, it adds something else to tackle, so it just means you may have more to be contending with. (Focus Group 2, Participant 2)

Participants described how growing up with intolerance could lead to a detrimental sense of internalised homophobia, which was perceived to contribute to poor mental health and hinder self-management, as it was another challenge to tackle in helping oneself. However, participants also highlighted that the self-management techniques and strategies they had successfully used were not specifically tailored for LGBTQ+ young people, and that there was not necessarily a lack of access to self-management tools and techniques for LGBTQ+ young people.

I came out, when was it? Like a couple of years ago, um, but that hasn’t significantly, like, a few experiences happened that did make my mental health somewhat worse, but, the techniques that I was using worked just as well for those experiences as they did for others . (Interviewee 3)

Participants perceived family members’ rejection of their LGBTQ+ identity to have a negative impact on their capacity to self-manage. These stressful or negative experiences could lead to fear or low self-esteem, which participants perceived to undermine their help-seeking efforts.

Trying to help yourself and self-care, um, it might be difficult in a situation where you're around others that are completely undermining you and, um, are trying to steer you away from trying to help yourself. (Interviewee 14)

Participants also described how they felt they had to be less open with their parents, carers or particular members of their family due to fears that they did not meet their heteronormative expectations. They feared that they would be met with homophobia, transphobia or other discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

There’s also the other part of my family, which is homophobic, and I’m terrified of coming out to. (Interviewee 1)

This fear of a negative reaction was cited as something that might prevent participants from drawing on others for support in self-managing their mental health.

Theme 3: Facilitators to self-management

Subtheme 1: balance and routine.

Participants described the importance of feeling balanced and being able to get into a regular routine of self-management. They described mental health in terms of one’s mental state, which ideally would be balanced or controlled. The act of self-management was described as a method for regaining balance which could lead to happiness, focussing on the positive or feeling more calm and clear-minded.

When I was in the routine of, of meditating, it becomes a habit, and then it becomes a lot easier to do that. And the m-, the easier it becomes to do something, a coping mechanism that helps me, like meditating, the easier it then becomes to do any other given task on that day. (Interviewee 2)

In relation to location, having a quiet space to self-manage away from others was described as important by participants.

Some people, I don’t know, don’t have like a quiet space where they can go to kind of relax and, and meditate and kind of feel better in themselves. (Interviewee 15)

Finally, participants viewed having a routine for self-management as important. This could involve a daily pattern of behaviour, writing things down or planning ahead.

Subtheme 2: Intrinsic benefits of self-management

Despite experiencing challenges in self-management, participants also described intrinsic benefits stemming from self-managing their mental health. These included a sense of agency, ownership, freedom and confidence that came from successfully self-managing or knowing how to self-manage.

You know that you have yourself to thank for it, at the end of the day. Like it feels incredibly good when it does go right to be able to say, kinda yeah, I did that, there’s no two ways around it. (Focus Group 2, Participant 1)

This ability to manage their mental health was attributed by participants to allowing them to live a better life. Similarly, participants described how the process of self-management could be quite enjoyable, as it could involve activities they already liked to do.

A lot of those things are, are things that do make me happy anyway. It’s not all just a slog of having to do these things to keep my mental health, you know, working well. (Interviewee 2)

Participants also described how feeling connected, grounded, present and grateful could contribute to and result from self-managing their mental health. This was intertwined with a sense of perspective, purpose, peace or clarity of mind.

Subtheme 3: Importance of social motivation and support

When asked about good mental health, participants described interacting socially with others, including speaking to family and friends, contributing to society and enjoying spending time with friends.

A lot of my friends have had experiences with mental health issues in the past, so they can, they can, uh, commiserate with that when I want to talk about it. But also just, hanging out and having a good time and laughing and that sort of stuff just makes me feel happy, and that can, that can make the difference between having a, a good day and a bad day, uh mental health wise. (Interviewee 2)

Conversely, participants highlighted that a sign of poor mental health could be feeling unable to be around other people, isolating oneself, taking others’ comments personally or misjudging social situations.

If it's, say, a negative self-doubt that you might feel, that's a product of poor mental health, be- say you're out with your friends, and, you know, usually a joke might, th- that you might laugh at, suddenly is now a deep personal attack. (Interviewee 6)

This participant also went on to explain that their interpretation of a situation when their mental health was poor did not necessarily align with what was happening in reality.

The majority of participants ( n  = 16) perceived social motivation and support to be important in self-managing their mental health. This involved participants’ family members, friends, flatmates or partners, who could be helpful in providing a listening ear, giving encouragement, reminding them to self-manage or checking their emotions or thoughts.

It makes it much more fun and um, motivational like if there’s other people on board, then you’re like, okay, we’re all in this together. (Focus Group 1, Participant 2)

Subtheme 4: Asking for help and vulnerability

Participants highlighted the perceived importance of being able to ask for help from others or seeking help from a professional to self-manage their mental health. This was linked by participants to good self-management, and it was acknowledged that sometimes outside help was necessary despite efforts to self-manage alone.

I think sometimes it becomes that idea of, "You can do it by yourself. You don't need somebody else to help self-manage." When sometimes you do need someone else's perspective or someone else's professional skills to give you new ideas or to help you help yourself. (Interviewee 5)

It was also highlighted that asking for help involved an element of vulnerability and opening up.

So, self-management also involves the ability to be vulnerable, and the ability to speak to other people about things that you’re going through. (Focus Group 1, Participant 2)

Subtheme 5: Benefits of the COVID-19 lockdown in terms of self-management

Participants highlighted a number of perceived benefits resulting from the COVID-19 lockdown which related to their ability to self-manage. One of these was having more free time to stop, self-reflect and think without distraction, which could help with focussing on self-management.

Mostly since lockdown, ‘cause obviously I’ve, you know, I’ve had a lot of time to just sort of self-evaluate, self-reflect, and I’ve found that maybe this is something that I was neglecting. (Interviewee 11)

Other perceived benefits included developing a closer relationship with family members, spending less time commuting, developing a more regular routine, not having to prepare for stressful exams, being more positive and putting things into perspective, appreciating spending time with friends more, having the opportunity to participate in social justice initiatives and striking a better work-life balance.

Like lockdown has actually been a godsend because I was not looking forward to A Levels and I was getting myself worked up in it, and also my atmosphere at school wasn't great... So, it's now like having more free time, having my dedicated space for like, the meditation. (Interviewee 7)

Subtheme 6: LGBTQ+ community helps with self-management

Participants described a perception that identifying as LGBTQ+ and having access to the wider LGBTQ+ community, either through youth groups, friends who are also LGBTQ+, online resources or forums specifically for LGBTQ+ people or LGBTQ+ events like Pride, could help them to self-manage their mental health.

Like, there's a solid community that I've been able to access because I identify as LGBTQ + ... There’s also, kind of, opportunities to reach out to others like you, and kind of reach out to people who can help, with the same perspective. (Interviewee 9)

In comparison to someone who did not identify as LGBTQ+, participants felt they might experience fewer challenges in self-managing their mental health. They attributed this again to their access to the LGBTQ+ community, which they perceived to strengthen their sense of togetherness and camaraderie (both online and in person) and to provide them with a safe space to talk to others. This was seen as something potentially inaccessible to people who were not members of the LGBTQ+ community.

And I suppose there’s also ways that it makes it, not easier, but, in other ways more positive, such as having this community, the LGBTQ + community, who understand you, without even having to know you... maybe someone who isn’t LGBTQ + , who doesn’t have the best surroundings, may not have that community sense, um, of encouragement. (Focus Group 2, Participant 1)

This research investigated LGBTQ+ young people’s experiences and perceptions of self-managing their mental health. Specifically, this research aimed to illuminate LGBTQ+ young people’s experiences and opinions of using strategies or techniques to self-manage their mental health, their perceptions of what stops them from or helps them to self-manage their mental health, and their perceptions of specific challenges (if any) for LGBTQ+ young people in self-managing their mental health. Three overarching themes were identified covering self-management strategies and barriers and facilitators to self-management (see Table ​ Table2). 2 ). These themes are discussed in turn and compared and contrasted with existing literature.

Themes and subthemes

Specific self-management strategies

Several of the self-management strategies identified in the current study align with previous research investigating coping [ 6 ] and non-professionally mediated interventions [ 5 ]. Stapley et al. [ 6 ] identified similar coping strategies, including ‘digital or media entertainment’, ‘creative activities’, ‘being physically active’, ‘positive thinking or optimism', ‘ignoring people, feelings or situations’, ‘social support’ and ‘other professional support’ (see Table ​ Table1). 1 ). Likewise, a number of non-professionally mediated interventions identified in Wolpert et al.’ study reflected the self-management strategies identified in the current study, including (but not limited to) reading, self-harm, talking to someone you know and trust, positive thinking, physical exercise, sleep, mindfulness, walking, spending time outdoors in nature, warm bath, writing things down and making music [ 5 ]. This overlap suggests that participants perceived some coping strategies and non-professionally mediated interventions to also be self-management strategies, giving credence to the idea that these lie on a continuum of caring for oneself.

Barriers to self-management

LGBTQ+ young people in the current study perceived themselves to be at a higher risk of experiencing trauma or adverse events resulting from identity-related discrimination. This is reflected in research showing that LGBTQ+ young people describe experiencing rejection, isolation, discrimination, abuse, bullying and homophobia or transphobia [ 21 ], as well as evidence suggesting that sexual minority adolescents are more likely to experience all forms of bullying and victimisation in comparison to their heterosexual peers [ 16 ]. Findings from the current study also suggest that experience of these negative or adverse events can have a detrimental effect on LGBTQ+ young people’s capacity to self-manage their mental health, which aligns with previous literature suggesting that adverse events can affect young people’s ability to cope [e.g., 29 ]. While the association between adverse events and poorer mental health for LGBTQ+ young people has been established [ 16 ], more research is needed into how LGBTQ+ young people’s capacity to self-manage may mitigate this. However, the barriers ‘wanting to wallow’ and ‘self-management is hard work’ in the current study could suggest that even in the absence of adverse events, self-management is a challenging process for LGBTQ+ young people to initiate or engage in at times.

Lack of acceptance from family was also perceived by participants to be a barrier to self-management of mental health. This aligns with the individual and family self-management model, which maintains that family members play a key role in the management of illness, particularly for younger people [ 30 ]. It is possible that the degree to which an LGBTQ+ young person is out with their family and friends also acts as a barrier, as an LGBTQ+ young person who is not out may fear judgement from family and friends, which was also mentioned as a barrier to self-management in the current study.

The COVID-19 lockdown in the UK appeared to contribute to a number of perceived barriers to self-management of mental health in the current study. The negative impact of the lockdown on LGBTQ+ young people’s mental health was echoed in research by Kneale and Becares [ 31 ], who found high levels of both stress and depressive symptoms amongst LGBTQ+ people during the lockdown, particularly in the case of younger and transgender respondents, as they were more likely than others in the LGBTQ+ community to have experienced some form of discrimination during the pandemic. Experiences of discrimination such as these have been associated with greater symptoms of emotional difficulties like anxiety and depression amongst transgender people [ 32 ]. The findings from the current study did not suggest that participants had experienced additional discrimination during the lockdown, but instead that the barriers to self-management resulting from the pandemic were partly perceived to be due to not being able to access vital services, attend LGBTQ+ youth groups, socialise as often with friends or attend extracurricular activities due to closures. These barriers align with the minority stress model, which posits that mental health outcomes for LGBTQ+ people are affected by coping and social support, both from the community and individuals [ 17 ], which were likely negatively affected by lockdown-related closures and government-mandated restriction on in-person socialising.

Facilitators to self-management

The current study suggests that the degree which an LGBTQ+ person is out influences their perceived ability to access self-management support from friends, family or their community. This aligns with the minority stress model, which positions ‘minority identity’ as an important factor influencing LGBTQ+ people’s mental health outcomes, coping and social support [ 17 ]. This also links with findings from previous research suggesting that LGBTQ+ young people who are not out might struggle to access self-management support from friends, family or their community [ 21 ]. The current study’s findings also suggest that LGBTQ+ young people who have access to the LGBTQ+ community may find it easier to self-manage their mental health, and that this community can serve as an oasis of social support and acceptance in a heteronormative world. This aligns with findings suggesting that LGBTQ+ people perceive the LGBTQ+ community to have a positive effect on their mental health and wellbeing through providing support and reducing a sense of isolation [ 33 ]. There is evidence that peer support such as this amongst LGBTQ+ young people can reduce a sense of marginalisation and the likelihood of poor mental health outcomes [ 34 , 35 ]. Additionally, social support and motivation and having a safe space to self-manage were mentioned by participants in the current study as facilitating self-management of their mental health, which aligns with policy highlighting the importance of having safe and supportive social environments in the mental health of LGBTQ+ young people [ 36 ].

Positive effects of the COVID-19 lockdown in terms of self-management, particularly in relation to having more free time and thinking positively, were echoed in findings from the Teenagers’ Experiences of Life in Lockdown (TELL) Study [ 37 ]. This research suggested that young people in the UK experienced an enjoyable sense of relief from stressors they were previously experiencing in their daily lives and a sense of positivity during the lockdown [ 37 ]. Likewise, the negative implications of the lockdown mentioned in the current study also aligned with those in the TELL Study, including young people feeling increased fear, anxiety and distress about COVID-19 as well as other aspects of their daily lives [ 37 ].

Finally, participants in the current study highlighted their tendency to seek out information regarding self-management or self-care online. The influence of digital support on LGBTQ+ young people’s self-management of their mental health merits further exploration in future research, as there is evidence that the Internet is one of the main methods of accessing support for members of the LGBTQ+ community [ 21 ]. Therefore, it is likely that an intervention to facilitate self-management would benefit from a digital format, and there is some evidence that young people from a nonclinical population already use digital technology for reducing stress and would find a digital self-management tool useful [ 38 ].

Strengths and limitations

This study has several strengths. Firstly, a diverse group of participants in terms of ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, age and geographic location was recruited, which increased the likelihood that a broad range of views were accessed. Secondly, the inductive nature of the analysis performed allowed for the identification of themes which went beyond the original research questions (e.g., ‘Wanting to wallow’) and spoke to the heterogeneity of experiences regarding LGBTQ+ young people’s self-management of their mental health. A further strength was the enlistment of an additional researcher in checking the coding for the analysis, which enhanced the trustworthiness of the analysis by ensuring that the primary researcher’s interpretations were grounded in the data [ 39 ]. Finally, this study involved members of the LGBTQ+ community who identified with any sexual orientation or gender identity, including those who identified as heterosexual, ensuring that a full range of views could be accessed without adhering to rigid or binary conceptualisations of gender identity or sexual orientation. This is important because it emphasised the researchers’ position at the beginning that gender is a construct and reduced the likelihood that the results were influenced by a bias of heteronormativity, which could have led participants to feel less able to talk about their experiences as it this be perceived as discriminatory or naïve.

There are also some limitations to this research. These findings cannot be generalised to all LGBTQ+ young people but may be applicable to wider populations, as many of the experiences and perceptions may also ring true for other young people in the UK. Additionally, while recruitment yielded a good geographic spread of participants, not all areas in the UK were covered (e.g., Scotland), which means that if there is geographic variation in experiences and perceptions in these areas, it may not have been captured by this study. It is also possible that these data were skewed toward young people who were more likely to be out, as the majority of participants were involved with LGBTQ+ youth groups, meaning the views of LGBTQ+ young people who are less out and therefore more likely to draw on anonymous sources of self-management support merit further investigation. Additionally, participants under the age of 16 were required to provide parent/carer consent to participate, which meant that young people under the age of 16 who were not out to their parents may not have chosen not to participate. Although participants 16 and older did not require parental consent, it is likely that young people who were living with parents/carers who were unsupportive of LGBTQ+ people chose not to participate due to fears of being overheard or not having sufficiently private space available to them. Successfully recruited participants were also those who had access to computers, headphones, tablets or mobile phones, potentially excluding young people with reduced financial means. Future research may benefit from recruiting LGBTQ+ young people from the general population, particularly in-person as COVID-19-related restrictions ease, as this might yield greater diversity of views relating to self-management and provide a helpful point of comparison.

This is the first research study, to our knowledge, to investigate LGBTQ+ young people’s experiences and perceptions of self-managing their mental health, as well as the barriers and facilitators to self-management for this group. Findings established that LGBTQ+ young people perceive themselves to be using multiple strategies to self-manage their mental health and perceive there to be a number of barriers and facilitators to this process. These findings support further exploration into the development of or provision of research-informed support to an intervention or policy to support self-management, particularly that which can be tailored for specific groups (e.g., gender diverse individuals), as some groups might find particular ways of self-managing their mental health more helpful than others [ 32 ]. A key area of future investigation should be into social and LGBTQ+ youth group or community support as key facilitators to the self-management of mental health, as these were highlighted by participants in the current study and have implications for policy and intervention development. More research is needed into digital mental health interventions for LGBTQ+ young people, and how such interventions could facilitate LGBTQ+ young people’s self-management of their mental health, to potentially improve mental health outcomes for this group.

Acknowledgements

The authors of this paper like to thank the young people, LGBTQ+ youth group leaders, participation officers and other professionals who either participated in this study, joined an informal advisory group meeting, or helped to recruit LGBTQ+ young people to participate in this research. They would also like to acknowledge and thank the Evidence Based Practice Unit, The Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, University College London and the National Institute for Health Research ARC North Thames for their support with this research.

Author contributions

All authors have contributed to writing and editing this manuscript.

This report is independent research funded by the National Institute for Health Research ARC North Thames. The views expressed in this report are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the National Institute for Health Research or the Department of Health and Social Care.

Data availability

Declarations.

The authors have no conflicts of interest or competing interests to disclose.

1 The word ‘out’ used by participants is viewed by the primary researcher to refer to ‘coming out’, which can be defined as “To acknowledge or declare openly that one is homosexual. Also in extended use with reference to other sexual or gender identities” [ 28 , p. 1].

348 Youth Essay Topics & Examples

Looking for youth essay topics? The field is exciting and worth writing about!

🔝 Top 10 Research Topics on Youth Issues

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In your paper, you might want to focus on important youth issues, such as study problems, physical development, and mental health. Other options include analysing some sociological aspects of youth, exploring youth crime, and focusing on youth culture. In this article, we’ve gathered best research topics on youth issues: argumentative essay topics about youth, youth culture research topics, etc. We’ve also added excellent youth essay examples to inspire you even more!

• How does one’s youth affect their future?
• Youth: rights and limitations
• The youth physical development model
• Legal drinking age in different countries
• Student rights in higher education
• Youth mortality: causes and effects
• Adolescent obesity: how to prevent?
• Young marriages in developing countries
• Youth and political participation worldwide
• Minimum age for employment in the US: should it be changed?
• Youth Crime as a Major Issue in the World The relationships that exist in the families of the youths could facilitate the indulgence in criminal activities for example when the parents are involved in crime, when there is poor parental guidance and supervision, in […]
• Empowering Youth Engagement in Society If young people in a given society are not actively involved in important activities in the society they can be destructive and thus negative change in the society. This can be achieved by engaging and […]
• Youth Issues and Adult Society In most countries, the age of the youth is drawn at the time when an individual is treated equally under the law, normally referred to as the age of majority.
• Youth Unemployment as a Social Issue Different factors have led to the high levels of youth unemployment, with the most widely studied of them being the skills that are available to the unemployed youths.
• Modern Technologies and Their Impact on Youth This study presents an analysis of the impacts of the modern technology on the communication skills, personalities and social behaviors of the youth in the technological context that characterizes the network society.
• “Anthem for Doomed Youth” by Wilfred Owen Literature Analysis The events of the past still haunt some of the countries, the relics of the war are still being found in the places of former battlefields, the veterans are being honored and the films about […]
• The Main Causes of Youth Violence Access to Guns and the Influence of the Media Shooting is one of the most common forms of youth violence, and guns are the primary weapons of perpetrators.
• The Effect of Social Media on Today’s Youth This theory is useful in the explanation of the impact of media during crisis, and will also be useful in the analysis of the impact of social media on the youth of the UAE.
• Solutions to Effects of Excessive Internet Use on Youth The education system and parents have a major role in the effort to reduce excessive use of the internet among the youth.
• Youth Unemployment and Policy Solutions The inability to address the problem of unemployment in the given age group may result in the growth of criminal activity, child poverty, and people’s negative perceptions of life.
• Youth Crime According to Conflict Theory The second one is that the youth might engage in criminal activities and violence due to misappropriation of resources, lack of jobs, and inadequate strategies to meet their social needs.
• Youth-Led NGOs in Brunei Darussalam Within the past three decades, the youth in Brunei Darussalam has been on the frontline to identify the trends recorded in different parts of the world in an attempt to implement similar practices in the […]
• Contemporary Issues Facing the Youth The paper addresses the issues affecting the youth of today with specific reference to unemployment and health. Solutions: Provision of financial relief to unemployed in the form of Unemployment Insurance System/ Entrepreneurial programs in […]
• Youth Crime in Functionalism and Conflict Theories The analysis will focus on determining factors contributing to youth engagement in criminal acts, examining the types of delinquencies they are likely to commit, and establishing the socio-psychological facets associated with the teenagers in the […]
• Youth as the Period in a Person’s Life Youth is both a beautiful and challenging period in a person’s life. Now, living it, I am trying simultaneously to find my purpose and not lose my inner self.
• The Influence of Peer Groups on Youth Crime The impact of youth crime on the community is profound, and so is the influence of criminal behavior on the lives of adolescents.
• Media Portrayal of Youth in Australia The portrayal of youth’s participation in society is a critical factor given the significant role of media in shaping the social concept of youth and the capabilities of young people.
• Youth Misbehavior: School and Community Risk Factors The following paper analyzes school- and community-related factors that contribute and sustain adverse behavioral patterns assesses the influence of diversity and multicultural issues that may impact the success of interventions, and explores several possible ways […]
• The Technology Influence on Youth This paper examines some of the main effects of new technologies on adolescents and young people, including deterioration of the physical and mental condition, increased risk of becoming a victim of a fraudster, and the […]
• Western Pop Culture and Street Fashion of Japanese Youth The research of the topic needs to be preceded by the explanation of the key subjects and notions used in the current paper.
• The National Youth Service Corps Schemes in Nigeria Agumagu, Adesope and Njoku note that the core objective of the scheme is to instill in the Nigerian youth “the spirit of selfless service to the community, and emphasize the spirit of oneness and brotherhood […]
• Youth and Children Ministry What is required is a framework which aids thinking about the task of youth ministry that ensures that Biblical beliefs, values and practices are constantly upheld in our ministry to young people regardless of context.
• Rural–Urban Migration and Youth in Bhutan This trend is a major public concern to the state and the government has experienced a number of obstacles in tackling the challenge of rural-urban migration.
• Youth Culture and Globalization The focus is also on the relations that exist between the youth and the society, as well as the factors that shape youths identity in terms of culture.
• The Youth Criminal Justice Act in Teresa Robinson’s Case 1 of the YCJA is relevant to the article since the offender’s name is still unreported despite the evidence of his involvement in the homicide.
• Do Violent Video Games Contribute to Youth Violence? The violence and aggression that stains the youth of today, as a result of these video games, is unquestionably a cancer that ought to be uprooted or at least contained by parents, school leaders, governments […]
• Youth Cultures and Moral Panic The movement emerged in the United States and spread to different corners of the world. These practices led to the establishment of a new culture in different parts of the world.
• Social Movements and Youth Activism Research done by Earl unveils that, it is vital to guarantee that young people are actively involved in social movements, and activities in order to encourage active citizenship and build programs that effectively represent their […]
• Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum Est” and “Anthem for Doomed Youth” The title is, in itself, ironic, for anthems have always meant to sing praises about grand things like love and patriotism, and so at first glance the poem seems to praise the damnation of the […]
• Western Films Influence on Youth However, there is a concern that its contents may have negative implications on teenagers in the developing countries because of the fundamental differences between the environment presented in the films and what they have in […]
• Amitai Etzioni: Youth Issues in “Working at McDonald’s” The article, ‘Working at McDonald’s’ by Amitai Etzioni explores the effect of the McDonald’s on students with reference to their studies. The author is against McDonald’s part-time jobs because they do not help the students […]
• Unhealthy Lifestyle Among the Singapore Youth The purpose of this report was to identify the reason for the continued unhealthy lifestyle among the Singapore youth despite the government’s efforts to promote healthier diets and lifestyles and find viable solutions to the […]
• Youths’ Career Choices in Individualist and Collectivist Societies To study the influence of the different types of societies on young adults’ career aspirations, it is important to establish the distinct features of individualistic and collectivistic approaches to the issue.
• Exploring The Concept of Youth Cultures Accordingly, the focal concern of this paper has been to accurately comprehend the concept of youth culture and to find out the exact means of finding meaning to the youth identity on the background of […]
• Korean Pop Music and Youth Identity Korean pop music has become a powerful genre that connects many youths to their counterparts in different parts of the world.
• Police-Youth Relations/Community Policing and Young Offenders Aims of the Study The study is aimed at determining the fairness and acceptability of the youth justice system and its effects on the youth-police relations in Canada.
• Police-Youth Relations and Community Policing This is because of the long history of the strained relationship between the Canadian youth and the police which has created a very negative perception of the police to the youth.
• Preventing Risky Sexual Behavior Among Youth The nation also losses productive people due to time wasted time and death of young people The two best strategies to effect change at the community level is through media and policy.
• Gun Violence and Its Effect on Youth As a matter of fact, the intersection of gun violence and domestic violence has the biggest impact on youth almost 60% of young people affected by gun violence every year are affected by homicides.
• Kids and Youth Homelessness: Facts and Statistics in the United States There have been numerous government interventions in the form of policies since the times of the Great Depression, but the number of homeless children and teenagers has only increased.
• Employability of Youths in the US When there is high supply of the youths, their demand by the employers will be less or the rules of the employment will fluctuate and mostly to the advantage of the employer.
• Youth Crime in Barry Jenkins’ “Moonlight” Film The film uses a triptych storytelling format to highlight the contexts and events in the protagonist’s life, emphasizing potent socio-political and personal themes.
• Suicide Among Youth as a Worldwide Issue The world needs to pay more attention to this issue because of the many young lives that society loses and the socioeconomic and psychological effects suicide causes.
• Some Youth Sports Are Too Intense With a rapid increase of physical achievement requirements and the variety of sports activities, adolescents become involved in sports and disregard the adverse effects of intensity they encounter.
• The Golden Age of Youth and Freedom However, it is interesting to compare it to the story which took place at the dawn of the cultural and sexual revolution in Chinese society.
• Smoking and Youth Culture in Germany The report also assailed the Federal Government for siding the interest of the cigarette industry instead of the health of the citizens.
• Youth Demonstrating Truant Behavior Instead, the evaluative review aims to explore the literature, provide information about the studies and their findings, analyze the discovered literature, and provide a conclusion based on the results of the reviewed studies.
• Perception of Childhood and Youth Through History The advent of industrialization led to the employment of many young people. The aristocracy and the bourgeoisies took their children to schools as part of the transition into adulthood.
• Drug Abuse Among the Youth Essentially, this case study will allow the evaluation of the prevailing cases of drug abuse among the youth. In this regard, the pain and peer pleasure cannot be persevered to allow an explicit cure of […]
• The Changing Relationship Between the Generations’ Youth Studies Australia In regard to the current economy reforms of Australia, the author argues that it does not favour the young generation the way it favoured the older generation.
• Violent Video Games and How They Affect Youth Violence However, despite the overwhelming outcry against the youth playing violent video games, there are a number of researchers and advocates who oppose the idea of directly linking the exposure of young adults to violent scenes […]
• Hip Hop Influence on Youth: Statistics and Effects Hip hop music is also said to perpetuate the rise in criminal activities among the youth. It is therefore recommendable for the youth to shun away from the vice brought about by hip hop music.
• Parent-Teacher-Youth Mediation Program Analysis Firstly, the parent-child communication quality will be evaluated within the framework of the characteristics of their relationships and the ability to manage the conflicting situation.
• “Friend of My Youth” by Alice Munro The narrator’s attempts to portray her mother as an active member of the community and tell the story through her eyes indicate a close connection between her and the storyteller.
• Youth Sports: Negative Effects This type of social exclusion can be ascribed not only to the negative impact of youth sports but also to the inefficiency of educators.
• Ajyal Film Festival and Youth Empowerment The DFI organizes the Ajyal Film Festival to present the film products of its most talented young actors and producers to the government and the business community, as well as the rest of the world.
• This Is Our Youth by Kenneth Lonergan The exploration of the difficulties that occur during the transition from adolescence to adulthood is the key message of the play.
• Sculpture of Victorious Youth The sculpture of the victorious youth is made of bronze and was discovered in the year 1964 in the Adriatic Sea.
• Youth and Maturity as Stages in Human Life They have the right to fight for there fundamental rights for they are mature and they can be in a position to take care of themselves.
• Youth Sports and Its Role in Character Formation Based on that, a survey helping to assess young people’s perceptions of the connection between aspects of character formation and youth sports will be created.
• Factors Affecting Youth’s Behaviors Towards Purchasing a Smartphone Objectives Understand the background of the smartphone industry Analyze the smartphone market trends and the role played by the youths in this marekts Understand reasons why youths buy smartphones through a survey on 100 people […]
• Tourism and Leisure for Youth Target Market This is imperative as the pages provide a forum for potential tourists to identify a company that deals with the tour and travel activities through pictorial displays. For the youths, tourism or travel activities involve […]
• Deviance: Social Problems of Youth Gangs Youth gangs are usually targets of terror groups that recruit and use them to perpetuate social injustice in the society. Gangs apply violence to ensure that all members in the gang adhere to their rules […]
• Reasons Behind Youth’s Engagement to Drug Abuse in the 21st Century Although youths in the 21st century engage in drug abuse due to several factors, it suffices to declare factors such as the rising unemployment status, peer pressure, and their hiked tendency to copy their parents’ […]
• Analysis of My Community and Youth Programs The significant challenge lies in the development of programs that meet the developmental needs of the youth. A third program in California involves improving the quality of education in the state.
• Social Networks and Youth Empowerment The increasing use of the sites has made them good places to train and advertise for various youth programs and activities; ministries of youth have realized the new way of approaching the young and they […]
• Mental Health Issues Among LGBTQ (Queer) Youth Studies point to multiple factors that play a role in the risk of suicide among LGBTQ youth, such as gender, socioeconomic status, bullying, and school experience. There is a need for further research and interventions […]
• Comprehensive Sex Education: Empowering Youth for Informed and Healthy Choices In addition to providing young people with the facts about sex and sexual health, it is also important for sex education to address issues related to consent, sexual harassment, and sexual assault.
• Non-Consensual Intimate Image Distribution in Youth That is the reason why the topic of an article called Young People Just Resolve It in Their Own Group is relevant and needs to be discussed. This paper aims to analyze the article and […]
• Religion and Culture: Immigrant and Minority Youth Religion is a fundamental way people experience and comprehend the world if culture describes how people perceive and comprehend the world.
• The Urgent Problem of Doping in Youth Sports: Solutions and Impact The solution to the problems is for the states to become more careful about the allocation of financial resources in the field of sports.
• Jamaica’s Unemployment and Positive Youth Development Although a recent positive trend in decreasing levels of joblessness is apparent as the country revitalizes its main source of income, the problem of the high level of unemployment among youth is persistent.
• Gender and Sexuality in Community Youth Work The primary duty of a youth worker enshrines competently rendering services to the public regardless of gender identity and sexual orientation.
• Socio-Psychological Trust Issues in Youth The truth is that behaviors associated with distrust, such as trust issues and paranoia, are high in the younger generation toward their peers and fundamental social institutions in the Western hemisphere, and these continue to […]
• Radicalization of British Youth Into Violent Extremism: The Role of Salafist Ideology Salafism believes that the most principal and genuine type of Islam might originate in the existence of the initial, honorable ages of Muslims known as the Salaf, who lived near the Prophet Muhammad in both […]
• Sex Variations in the Oral Microbiomes of Youths With Severe Periodontitis The periodontium provides nutrition to the hard tissues of the tooth and the alveolar process – the part of the jaw in which the tooth sockets are located, and it also tightly holds the tooth […]
• The Youth Justice Strategy Action Plan 2019–21 The Youth Justice Strategy Action Plan 2019 21 marks a crucial turning point in our effort to improve the juvenile justice system and lower the number of juvenile offenders and repeat offenders in Queensland.
• The University of Maryland’s Youth Sports Program To show the importance of youth sports programs, the report will focus on secondary research to depict the imbalance of academics and sports in the current curriculum used by many schools.
• Program to Tackle Drug Addiction Among Youth The core area of emphasis will be training the students on different ways to avoid the temptations of using drugs in order to lower the rate of addiction.
• Eating Disorder Among Youth and Its Aspects It is due to the fact that often the above sociological factors cause the development of psychological issues, especially among young people.
• Impaired Communication Amongst Youth The paper on ADHD is the research by Yuen-han and Chan who cite the most recent findings in the field and provide a set of recommendations for youth diagnosed with this condition.
• Retention of Youth by Indian Church of God A case study approach gives a chance to assess how strong the impact of the Indian Church of God is and to evaluate the role of individual members of the church, in particular, the senior […]
• Issue of Youth Homelessness in Canada The third and fourth factors, the lack of education and unemployment, are interconnected, resulting in inconsistent and low income and the inability to afford proper housing.
• Mentoring Youth: Trends and Tradition Considering the information provided in the text, the author’s primary research question concerns the fact what contemporary models of mentorship might be of relevance in the given environment and how these schemes could be implemented […]
• Substance Use Prevention Among Youth The strategy based on substance use prevention includes a number of tasks to follow to ensure the success of the intervention.
• Suicidal Thoughts Among LGBTQ Youth: Client’s Case Assessment The therapist must exercise special caution and delicacy while evaluating the factors related to the case and engaging the LGBTQ client in the process of treatment.
• The Use of Psychoactive Substances by LGBT Youth The purpose of this survey is to identify how reliable the information is that LGBT community adolescents are more likely to use psychoactive substances than heterosexual youth.
• The Problems of Youth Participation in Sports in the United States According to Atencio and Wright, the main issue covered in youth sports participation in the United States revolves around the relationship between the African American culture and basketball.
• The Role of Adults in Supporting the Youth Who Play Sports To reduce concerns and enjoy the chosen area of interest, one should recognize the role of adults in supporting youth to play sports.
• Guaranteeing Safety in Youth Mental Medical Services Centers There is expanding acknowledgment of the drawn-out effect of youth psychological well-being issues and the requirement for a more organized reaction in the US.
• Gang Culture of Latino Male Youth According to the authors, an occupational viewpoint is vital in inspecting how the exceptional context of a person’s life and location can affect the kind of professions which they are a part of.
• The Loneliness Pandemic in American Youth Loneliness contributes to poor health and unhealthy lifestyles such as social media addiction and damaging activities. Causes of loneliness include feelings of alienation, minimal physical interactions with others, differences in hobbies and lifestyles, and few […]
• Indian Youth Against Racism: Photo Analysis The main cause of racism within American societies is the high superiority complex possessed by the white individuals living with the Asian American in the society.
• Competency-Based Model for Youth Leadership Development in the UAE Governmental Organizations In the past, those in position of power would use coercion to ensure that they get the support of the followers.
• Youth Violence in Schools Paraphrase of the above quotation: The media desensitizes violence and increases aggressive and antisocial behavior, despite this, most youths are constantly exposed to violence and gore in the virtual world which is where they spend […]
• Should Florida’s School Resource Officers Get Permission to Use Tasers on Youths? Since the use of Tasers is unavoidable, there is the need to ensure the most efficient use of Tasers while minimizing the risks of health complications or death.
• Implementation of a Public Health Campaign on STDS Among the Youth A number of strategies will be used to actualize the envisaged public health campaign on STDs among the youth. Social media will be used to influence the behavior of the youth in relation to STDs.
• The Problem of Homeless Youths With HIV-AIDS Studies carried out in the city of New York in 2008 showed that 21 percent of homeless youth males and 24 percent of homeless female youths had “more than 100 lifetime partners”. 5 percent of […]
• Youth Crime Statistics in the US In 2000, the youth crime rate in juvenile court for drug offenses and public law offenses showed an increase with the age of the youth convict.
• Sexual Behavior Among Underserved Minority Youth Through IMB Model This article suggests, as one of the options for identifying the determinants and predictors of such behavior, using the information-motivation-behavior model or the IMB.
• P-Plan Proposal: Youth, Adult and Elderly Abuse To ensure that equality and sanity is maintained, the government normally has some set rules and regulations that have to be adhered to.
• The Effect of Communicative Means on Youth in Egypt Unfortunately, the modern media is filled with hatred and false claims, which are not filtered and negatively impact youth in Egypt.
• Modern Communicative Means Effect on the Youth in Egypt For the young people of Egypt, modern communication methods open the opportunity for global integration, which is a key factor in the development of societies at the present stage.
• Increasing Vocational Opportunities for the Youth Thus, I would like to address the local government to make it more involved in increasing vocational opportunities for the youth because of a few reasons.
• Youth and Women’s Empowerment in the Economy, Education and Culture Strategy in UAE In March 2015, the Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development and the General Authority of Sports launched the Youth Empowerment Strategy to empower the government and young Emiratis to collaborate on achieving Vision 2021.
• The ‘Street Games’ Athletic Intervention to Reduce Youth Crime With this announcement, and the creation of the mayor’s Steering Group to address the issue in the urban center, the role of sport in combatting the youth crime epidemic was thrown into the spotlight.
• Sexuality Problem Among Japanese Youth For instance, the impact of economic stagnation, the effects of the tsunami, and the radioactive crisis influenced people’s minds. Moreover, anime promotes the issue of “hikikomori,” which means a person’s choice to stay isolated and […]
• Attitude of Youths Towards Entrepreneurship in UAE Studies have attempted to identify factors that impact the attitudes of youths towards entrepreneurship in the UAE. Investigating the attitude of youths towards entrepreneurship in UAE is significant in studies related to it.
• How Does Cultural Continuity Play a Role in Youth Suicide Rates Among Indigenous People in Canada? In conclusion, it is possible to mention that there is a direct connection between youth suicide rates among Indigenous people in Canada and cultural continuity.
• Anxiety and Depression in Hispanic Youth in Monmouth County Therefore, the Health Project in Monmouth County will help Hispanic children and adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19 to cope with anxiety and depression through behavioral therapy.
• The Reducing and Preventing Suicide Attempts Among the Youth As a result, this study included a pre-test in order to compare the intervention and control before and after the program.
• Radicalization Among Youth: Causes and Solutions In this paper, the research topic focuses on the causes and solutions of radicalization among the youths. As a result, it has been chosen to make the determinations in regard to the question of what […]
• Evaluating Youth Work With Vulnerable Young People The key determining factor in the choice of an evaluation model is the type and nature of the parameter to be evaluated.
• Social Innovations. Opportunities for Youth One of the ways which have been identified to help in the empowerment of the youth is through the youth social initiatives.
• The Prevalence of Vaping Among Youths in Ireland This paper aims to analyze the prevalence of vaping among youths in Ireland, the primary causes of vaping, its health effects, and a recommendation for the appropriate approach to prevent e-cigarette use in Ireland.
• Impact of Digital Drug and Electronic Addiction on UAE Youth Therefore, the primary purpose of this dissertation is to determine the impact of digital drugs and the electronic addiction they cause on the youth of the UAE to highlight the existing problem in society.
• Employment Programs for Unemployed Youth in the MENA The average youth unemployment rate in these countries was 27 percent back in 2008, the highest of any region in the world.
• Juvenile and Youth Gangs However, in order to understand what society can do to save juvenile gang members, it is paramount to understand why the youth join these gangs and the key issues associated with juvenile gangs.
• Consumptions of Fast Foods Among Youth in Saudi Arabia However, little research has focused on the factors that lead to the increased consumption of fast foods in Saudi Arabia among these groups of people.
• Youth and Sexual Violence Analysis Youth and sexual violence are some of the categories incorporated in the general topic of violence. However various strategies have been incorporated in a bid to the upward trend of violence.
• Intergenerational Partnerships in the Youth The study illustrates the utility of process evaluation methods for improving a new violence prevention program, Youth Empowerment Solutions for Peaceful Communities.
• Youths Transitioning Foster Care System These problems have led to the necessity of occupational therapy in the foster care systems where they enable the young people aging out of foster care to deal with these issues.
• Rate of Pregnancy Among Youths in Australia In most cases, the high rate of teenage pregnancy is a result of poor parenting and lack of sex education in the country.
• Community Initiatives to Deal With Gang Violence Among the Youth This paper is a study of the activities that the members of the community can engage in to assist this process.
• Detailed Plan to Attract Youth on Stock Market Investment The management of Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange may consider starting mentorship programs, which target young people in this society in order to attract them to the stock market.
• “Youth Gangs in American Society” by Tracy et al. The authors also identify some of the major issues and factors encouraging the youth to join different gangs. The book explores “the use of unremittingly tough policies in order to deal with crime and youth […]
• Asthma in School Going Youth: Effects and Management The control and prevention of adverse effects of asthma are goals of managing asthma as stated in the National Asthma Education and Preventive Program asthma treatment guidelines.
• Alcohol Advertising and Youth This has been achieved by analyzing the relationship graphs of alcohol consumption versus advertising, as well as bans on advertising. One of them is that it only focuses on advertising as the only influencer of […]
• The Social Environments and the Effectiveness of Youth HIV Prevention It is saddening that most of the youth view sex education negatively since their elders have socialized them to view it as a curse.
• Youth Justice Conferencing as a Government Hybrid Technique The main rationale of introducing the youth justice conferencing is to provide for a safe and conducive environment in which both the offender and the victim are given equal opportunity to present facts about the […]
• Marginalized Youths in Australia This conflict mainly between the police and these minority youths as Cunneen explains, has been caused by the unequal distribution of the country’s resources; the pursuit of social networks and the massive youth unemployment which […]
• Family and Community Violence Exposure Among Youth In fact, the harmful effect of violence reflects on the surviving ability of the society.”Violence is among the leading causes of death for people aged 15-44 years worldwide, accounting for 14% of deaths among males […]
• Behavior Modification as an Intervention to Enhance School and Training Attendance at Manson Youth Institution The process attempts to create a dialogue between the two and this has resulted in increased satisfaction for the victim, the offender ostensibly feels accountable for his actions and there is also lesser recidivism.
• Communication Final Project: Youth Activism, Social Media, and Political Change Through Children’s Books Picture the Dream was an unconventional exhibition of children’s picture books related to the topic of the Civil Rights Movement and was held in the High Museum of Art.
• Promoting the Importance of Healthy Living in Singapore Youth Community This information proves that it is necessary to identify how the Singapore youth community can benefit from the promotion of healthy living.
• Social Media Efficiency in Decreasing Youth Alcohol Consumption The purpose of this paper is to discuss the effects and efficiency of social media in raising awareness of alcohol as a health risk factor and decreasing alcohol consumption among youth.
• Civil and Political Engagement in Youth The paper highlights the lack of research on the political context and alternate means of civic engagement used by the young generation.
• Youth-Led Activism and Political Engagement in New Zealand As the authors admit themselves, this choice of topic was due to the article being a part of a larger research project on the organization’s activism in New Zealand.
• Unruly Youth in Urban Environments. Analysis In the end, marginalization forces both the protagonist of the film and the residents of favelas to illegal activities, such as violence and participating in drug trafficking.
• Youth Empowerment in the UAE The UAE seeks to increase civic responsibility and leadership skills of youth because young people are considered to be an essential resource for the development of the country.
• Poor Kids: The Impact of Poverty on Youth Nevertheless, the environment of constant limitations shapes the minds of children, their dreams and the paths they pursue in life, and, most importantly, what they make of themselves.
• Career Motivation of Youth Professional Activity: RAKBANK At the same time, the orientation of the personnel policy of RAKBANK is the qualification and role of personnel in the implementation of strategic tasks.
• Family Factors and Youth Suicide This, in turn, is fraught with the loss of contact between a child and parents and is a driver that prompts teenagers to seek a way out in suicidal thoughts.
• Hardships of African-American Youths in the Singleton’s “Boyz N the Hood” The community that is filled with crime and corruption is a cesspool and is hard to avoid. His father, Furious, grew up in a harsh environment and so, he explains to Tre that the life […]
• Critical Analysis of Purpose Driven Youth Ministry by Doug Fields It is also evident that the role of the parent in the life of a youth in the church is present in Chapter 4 of the book.
• Youth & Society Review In the following paper I have my goal to review the article by Robert Crosnoe, Kristan Glasgow Ericson and Sanford Dornbusch about the factors reducing and moderating the impact of deviating friendships among the adolescent […]
• Deaf Youth: Social Justice Through Media and Activism The Deaf Youth USA for instance strives to educate, inspire, and empower the deaf youth to make difference in the communities.
• A Community Development Plan for Youth 15-18 Years in Kenyan Kibera Slum The outspoken challenge facing youth in most of the developing nations has been lack of employment to absorb the large numbers of the unemployed youth loitering along the streets.
• Media Violence Effect on Youth and Its Regulation It is also important to note that the more important the media puts on violence, the more people are tempted to engage in it for the sake of attention.
• Youth Culture, Obesity and Moral Panic The centrality of this health crisis within the public agenda can be evidenced in the increased coverage by the media and other forms of communication on how the youth are ending up obese due to […]
• Jobless Youth Joining the Military It is stated that most of the youths in America join the military due to expansion of the nuclear energy and the need for more employees.
• Youth Cultural Consumption and Its Impact on the Economy Culture is the sphere that can bring great profit to the manufacturers and the youth is the target audience of a great number of businesses belonging to the “culture industry”.
• Youth as Active Participants in Resistance As a subculture it has spilled out from the youth to a wider popular culture acceptable by the main culture, who, while trying to take and accept the youth’s innovations, in design, music, in that […]
• Philosophy of Youth Ministry and Spirituality The sole aim for the formation of the youth ministry is to encourage the young people to learn more about their faith and engage themselves in spirituality.
• Youth Wages in Australia and Their Advantages This assignment addresses on the advantages of having youth wages increment in Australia, and if the regime of this state should retain the wage arrangements which mainly targets the younger generation under the age of […]
• Navy’s Child & Youth Programs: Loyal Kids Grant The Navy’s Child and Youth Programs are an essential part of the nation’s child and youth development aimed to promote quality, availability, and affordability of the care under the Department of Defense.
• “Children With a Star: Jewish Youth in Nazi Europe” by Deborah Dwork Accordingly, this paper will identify some of the themes that are brought out in this book and the contribution of this book to my understanding of the topic of the Holocaust.
• “The Illogic of Youth Driving Culture” by Tilleczek However, all of the literature included is of recent origin and revolves within the time frame of 10 years and it presents a thorough outline of the problem and the possible solution.
• “The Wife of His Youth” Short Story by Chesnutt This is the case with Charles Chestnutt’s short story “The Wife of His Youth” in which the significant disruption of life experienced by the institution of slavery and the Civil War is illustrated through the […]
• Youth Issue: Teen Pregnancy Only when the parents of these teenagers openly discuss sexuality and the harmful effects of teen pregnancy with their teenagers are they most likely to understand the risks involved with sex and pregnancy and thus […]
• Community Initiative – The Chinese American Youth Forum
• Youth Prostitution in America
• Appropriate Sentence for Violent Youth
• Homeless Youths and Health Care Needs
• Rachel’s Challenges and Its Benefits to the Youth. Columbine School Shooting
• Youth Crime and Punishment
• Two Leadership Experiences That Was Significant to Me as a Leader of a Youth Group
• Asian and Latino Youths Identity Problems
• American Youth: Consumerism and Consumption Issues
• Youth Unemployment in Africa: A Challenge for Public Policy Makers
• Homophile Youth Movement Flier
• Work for Youth: “Nickel and Dimed” by Ehrenreich
• Living Environments: Classification for Youth
• Youth Professional and National Occupational Standards
• Asian Youth Gangs Analysis
• The Concept of ‘Youth’ in Relation to Current Policy
• Internet Drawbacks Upon Youth
• How Should Youth Combat Negative Moral Influences?
• Youth Crime. Prejudice: Is It Justified?
• How Social Factors Shape Youth Subcultures
• Marijuana Legalization and Consumption Among Youth
• The First Aid Knowledge of Youth Soccer Coaches
• Parents’ Role in Youth Probation Outcomes
• High-Intensity Interval Training Program for Youth
• Youth Resilience Across Seven South African Sites
• Career Counseling Program for Disadvantaged Youth
• Child and Youth Care Professional Issues
• Songs of Delaware County Youth Orchestra Concert
• National Security Language Initiative for Youth Program
• Does Youth Sports Play a Part in Character Formation?
• Behavioral Youth Counselor’s Self-Assessment
• Reducing the Alcohol Abuse Among the Youth
• Personal Values Importance in Child and Youth Care
• Helping Families in Need: Concepts of Child and Youth Care
• Child, Youth and Family Intervention
• Youth Subcultures Causing Moral Panic in Media
• Chapters 7-9 of “Youth Media” by Bill Osgerby
• National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards
• Outdoor Activity Sport Business for Women and Youth
• Canadian Youth Business Foundation Website Analysis
• Youth Sports Role in Character Formation
• Safe Driving Among American Youth as Health Issue
• “Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites” by Danah Boyd
• The Real Needs of Homeless Youth in the United States
• Youth Suicide Prevention: Health Promotion Plan
• Social Behaviour as a Science: Drug Abuse in Youth
• HIV Prevention in Youth: Public Health Campaign
• Behavior Change Intervention for Youth in Florida
• Implications of Youth Violence
• Youth Texting Research Dissemination Strategy
• Child and Youth Care Perspective on Disability
• Youth Gang Prevention Continuum in Society
• Culturally Grounded Drug Prevention: The Hoʻouna Pono Curriculum for Rural Hawaii
• A New Weapon Used Against Youth
• Premarital Sex Attitudes Among Youth and Adults
• Pop Cultural Influence on American Youth
• Morality, Faith, and Dignity in Modern Youth
• Youth’s Aggression and Social Media
• American Youth in Films Since 1980s
• Youth Drug Abuse Among, Education, and Policies
• Obesity Consequences for Youth and Adults
• Prevention of Alcohol Consumption Among Youth
• Relationship Between Caregivers and Behavior of Youth
• Youth Leadership Development
• Disposable Water Bottle Usage by Youth Population
• Kuwaiti Youth Activities and Sociopolitical Role
• Youth Activities in Kuwait
• Youth Culture After Technological Advancement
• Troubled Children and Youth
• The Internet Effect on the Youth Participation in Politics
• Culture in “Youth Media”by Bill Osgerby
• How Does Obesity Affect African American Youth?
• Internet Gambling and Its Impact on the Youth
• Social Media Hazards for Youth
• Owning a Gun by Youth in Dangerous Environments
• Muslim Youth Redefining Leadership by N. Hussain
• Chinese Youth Sexual Culture
• Youth Participation in Democracy: China
• Cyberbullying and Its Impacts on Youths Today
• Mobile Youth Outreach Service’ Therapy Plan
• “Let Teenagers Try Adulthood” by Leon Botstein – Youth Issues
• Computer Apps for Productive Endeavors of Youth
• Media and Youth Violence
• Hip Hop Music as Media Influence on the Youth
• Cultural Awareness Among the Arab Youth
• Doctors’, Government and Youth Views
• Understanding Youth: Consumption, Gender, and Education
• Youth Issues: Student Differences
• Youth Issues: Video Games Effects
• Youth With Autism Disorder: Education and Employment
• Handling a Depressed Youth
• Lessons of Wisdom From Seniors to Youth
• The Youth Unemployment Crisis in Spain
• Sexual Health Education: The Issue of Necessity and Effectiveness of Youth Policies
• Does Violence in Video Games Affect Youth?
• Youth Popular Cultures and Music
• Why Kuwaiti Youth are Reluctant About Using Public Libraries
• The Role of the Youth Leader
• The Impressions of Emirati Youths on ISIS
• Youth Violence: Prevalence and Trends
• Somerset Rural Youth Project
• Somerset Rural Youth Project – Quality Assurance
• Youth Unemployment in UK and Talent Management Challenges
• Youth Arts and the Regulation of Subjectivity
• Youth Antisocial Behaviour: Britain
• The Effect of Health and Wellbeing on Australian Youth
• Youth Issues: The State of Children’s Rights in UAE
• ‘Youth, Adult and Elderly Miracle Centre’
• Marketing Sports Drinks: What They Don’t Tell the Youth
• HIV and AIDS Prevention Among the Youth in Asia
• Gangsta Rap Music as Social Culture in the Journal of Youth Studies by Alexander Riley
• Public Policy on Youth Gambling
• Django Paris on Humanizing Research in a Multiethnic Youth Community
• How Social Media Network Can Change the Attitude of Australian Youth
• Program Outcomes in a Non-Profit Organization Serving at Risk Youth in an Urban Metropolitan Area
• Contrast of Youth Employment Methods Between American and Other Countries
• Archery and Fencing as Youth’s Sports Programs
• Putting Out the Fires: Will Higher Taxes Reduce the Onset of Youth Smoking?
• Youth, Crime, and Violence
• Drug Abuse: Awareness Amongst the Youths
• The Weekly Article Analysis on Motivating the Aging and Youthful Workforces
• New Media and Popular Youth Culture in China
• Definition of Alcohol Misuse (Alcohol Abuse and Addiction) in Youth Population Age 18-29
• Youth Culture in the Last 20-30 Years: New York, London and Tokyo
• Foods That Are Being Served to Our Youth in the School System
• Connection Between Child Maltreatment and Youth Violence
• The Concept of Community Development to the Homeless Youths in Australia
• Youth Culture Under the Globalization Time
• Marked Language in Multiracial Youth
• Child and Youth Care Counselor
• Obesity Cases Among Youths
• Child Welfare in the Together Youth Shelter
• The Main Cause of Increasing Violent Behavior Among Youths Is Violence in the Media
• Youth Services: The Review. When Youth Development Theories Prove Right
• Underlying Causes That Push the Youths Into Crime
• Youth Unemployment in the UK
• Youth Culture Under Globalization
• How Social Network Empowers Youths in the Society
• The Sexual Practices in the Youths
• The Youth Issues of Burden Tackling
• How Extensive Is the Drug Problem Among American Youth Today?
• A Project on Establishment of Jousing Flats Voluntary Counselling and Testing Centers in Njoro Area to Reduce Prevalence of HIV/AIDS and Provide Nutritional Support Among the Youths Aged Between 16-35 Years
• School Is Bad for Children: Making Mistakes and Being Wrong
• How to Reduce the Purchase of Counterfeit “Knockoffs” by College Age Youth (18-24 Years Old)
• Professional Issues for Child and Youth Care Practitioners in School Based Settings
• What Is the Latest Fad Among the Youth of India?
• What Is the Biggest Problem Facing the Youth Today?
• What Do Older People Regret About Their Youth?
• What Are the Responsibilities of Youth?
• What Are General Seminar Topics That Attract Youth?
• How Can Conservatives Win Back America’s Youth From Progressives?
• What Is So Painful About the Indian Youth Today?
• What Are the Youth Problems?
• What Do You Think Is the Most Critical Issue Facing the Youth of Today?
• What Does the Pakistani Youth Think About the Indian Economy?
• What Are the Influences of Media Over the Youth?
• What Is the Role of the Youth in Eradication of Corruption?
• Why Is Youth Unemployment So High in Europe?
• What Are Some Issues Among Youth Today That We Can Discuss?
• Should Youth Get Involved in Politics?
• What Is the Impact of Cinema on Our Youth?
• How Does Poverty Lead to the HIV/Aids Infection Among the Youth?
• What Are the Impact of Technology on Youth?
• What Are Two Practical Solutions for Each of the Four Youth Risk Behavior?
• Does University Really Help Our Youth?
• How Does Miley Cyrus’ Actions and Attitudes Affect the Youth of Today?
• How Hiphop Has Changed the Youth in Society?
• How Much Impact Did Youth Culture Have on Society in the Years 1955-75?
• How Violent Video Games Really Affect the Youth?
• What Are the Social Causes of Youth Crime?
• What Impact Does Internet Have On Today’s Youth?
• What Is the Role of Youth in Politics?
• What Differences of the Youth Today Are From the Past?
• Why Don’t the Youth Nowadays Prefer Farming?
• What Are the Causes of the Massive Youth Unemployment in Spain?
• Children’s Rights Research Ideas
• Suicide Prevention Paper Topics
• Teenage Pregnancy Paper Topics
• Subculture Research Topics
• School Violence Ideas
• Puberty Titles
• Foster Care Titles
• Juvenile Delinquency Essay Titles
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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Questions to Address Youth Unemployment

We need to spur fresh thinking in this field even as we test and evaluate diverse approaches that promote youth economic empowerment in developing countries.

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By Reeta Roy Sep. 14, 2010

Next week, more than 300 people will convene at the Global Youth Enterprise & Livelihoods Development Conference in Washington, DC. I will be joining several of our partners, other funders, international NGOs, and youth innovators to discuss tough questions and promising solutions related to employment and entrepreneurship for young people. 

Approximately 1.3 billion young people between the ages of 12 and 24 live in developing countries. The pace of economic growth in many of these countries will be insufficient to create the 1 billion jobs needed over the next decade as youth transition into the workforce. And while there is an increase in basic education levels, millions of young people in developing countries still face bleak employment opportunities. Young women have even higher rates of unemployment and face additional systemic, social and cultural barriers.

Thus, there is an urgent need for new approaches to create economic opportunities for young people.  If successful, the effects of youth employment and productivity will have inter-generational impact with multiplier effects from wealth creation and growth to social stability and new leadership.

This requires a continuum of interventions that equip young people to change their own lives. Access to education, knowledge, skills, social networks and capital are the building blocks of this change.  How do we enable young people to stay in school and complete their secondary education?  Is micro-franchising a potential solution to entrepreneurship and job creation? How do we expand technology applications to equip young people with employability skills and connect them to ideas, mentors and resources? What’s required to encourage financial institutions to sustainably offer youth-inclusive financial education and services to enable young people to save money, build assets and manage financial resources for their education or to start a business?

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We need to spur fresh thinking in this field even as we test and evaluate diverse approaches that promote youth economic empowerment in developing countries, particularly in Africa. We have much work ahead of us to generate approaches that work at scale.

We believe that the most compelling ideas will come from those with the greatest stake in finding solutions—young people themselves.  We’ve already seen an explosion of activities by young people around the world to tackle questions facing them, and we would like to tap into this innovation.  As funders and practitioners, we need ways to engage young people in identifying needs, developing solutions and delivering them in ways that are trusted and accessible by youth and their families. 

Support  SSIR ’s coverage of cross-sector solutions to global challenges.  Help us further the reach of innovative ideas.  Donate today .

Read more stories by Reeta Roy .

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9 questions for a youth education advocate

Victoria Ibiwoye (centre)

“When we invest strongly in education, everyone benefits!”

Meet Victoria Ibiwoye from Nigeria, the Youth Representative for the SDG-Education 2030 Steering Committee .  She is a passionate young leader who also founded the OneAfricanChild Foundation for Creative Learning, an NGO focused on Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship Education for low-income community children in Africa.

Ahead of her participation at the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum in New York on 8-9 April, Victoria answered nine questions on the youth perspective of Sustainable Development Goal 4.

Where would you place education in the Sustainable Development Goals?

Education holds the key to unlock all the SDGs, and no doubt, it is rightly placed at the centre of the 17 sustainable development goals. In a world with over 7 billion people, education empowers individuals and society to learn to live together sustainably. It inspires us to act responsibly, based on the understanding that what we do today has a major impact on the lives of people and the planet in the future.

How can youth worldwide actively contribute towards achieving SDG4 in their communities?

As a young person, I understand the need to exercise my civic rights because I have seen and felt what it feels like to be deprived of quality and inclusive education. I have also seen the power of education breaking the cycle of poverty, transforming lives and building resilient societies. When we invest strongly in education, everyone benefits!

Young people are usually more conversant with the pain points and challenges at the grassroots. Some have been victims of the system, and this robust knowledge of the problem and its pains can be a driver for stimulating solutions in them. Our unique experiences, which include our stories, can be a powerful tool in driving advocacy and making significant changes in our communities.

How do we place young people at the heart of decision-making processes?

Leaders need to see young people not only as beneficiaries but also as an agency that accounts for nearly 25% of the world’s population.  Youth are societal actors and our choices and action affects society. There is a huge opportunity in viewing young people as actors, knowledge holders and innovators. Recognizing young people as leaders of today gives meaning to our contribution as autonomous civic agents. Young people are key stakeholders in any developmental thinking process. They can contribute to the consultation, planning, implementation and follow-up of any initiative or task.

What are the challenges faced by marginalized youth groups and how do we address them?

The scale of the global problem of out-of-school children – especially when it comes to migrant and refugee children – has increased faster than our efforts. Today, there are four million out-of-school refugee children. Among the challenges faced is a lack of academic and skills accreditation and certification recognition in host countries.

Many refugees are forced to flee their countries of origin without official documentation – when they are forced to leave at short notice, it is not surprising many travel with just the clothes they are wearing. Those that do manage to take necessary documentation often find that it is not recognized when they reach the safety of their host community.

Without the necessary documentation or with documentation that isn’t recognized, many refugees are unable to access essential services from their host country authorities, including access to education to continue their studies.

How do we ensure that education systems are more inclusive and equitable?

By recognizing the needs of these groups and creating a model that removes barriers and boundaries. The global community dedicated to SDG 4 needs to address the critical challenge of cross-border recognition of credentials for children and young people who find themselves displaced, and forced to flee their homes, communities, and their education. Efforts to provide and protect quality education for out of school children, especially the most disadvantaged around the world, need to be doubled by nations, NGOs, industry, and all those involved in the provision of education around the world.

How should education systems change to address the learning needs of youth?

Experiencing a paradigm shift towards soft skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, creativity and emotional intelligence. We must ensure that education systems are more fluid with bridges to different courses and levels, and that they take into account not only formal but also non-formal education.

Are today’s teachers/educators ready to create the leaders we need tomorrow?

No, many teachers don’t have what it takes to build the leaders of tomorrow and the quality of education cannot grow beyond the capacity of the teachers in it. Youth can take charge by equipping educators with skills that can empower the next generation and educators can leverage digitization to access best practices from different parts of the world. We need interactive and immersive sessions through virtual reality and constant optimization of teaching methods to suit both generic and specific needs of learners via artificial intelligence. We also need education to focus more on human rights, gender equality, global citizenship, peace and non-violence and cultural diversity.

What skills and attitudes are important for youth to learn in order to build just and peaceful societies?

Young people must learn empathy, advocacy and civic rights. This learning can happen in institutions, virtual classrooms, faith centers, and professional workspaces.

How do we ensure that such learning become priorities everywhere?

Policymakers and key stakeholders have to draw a roadmap that makes both the governments and private institutions accountable and responsible for the promotion of life-long learning both within and outside the walls of the education space.

Find out how UNESCO is leading the Education 2030 Agenda .

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Event International Conference of the Memory of the World Programme, incorporating the 4th Global Policy Forum 28 October 2024 - 29 October 2024

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211 Youth Essay Topics & Research Titles about Teenage Issues

Young people face unique social and emotional challenges, which can be interesting to explore in your essay. If you’re looking for engaging topics for your youth research, you’re at the right place! On this page, you’ll find youth development topics, awareness ideas, and titles about teenage issues.

🔝 Top 10 Awareness Topics for Youth

🏆 best essay topics on youth, 🎓 most interesting seminar topics for youth, 👍 good youth research topics & essay examples, 💡 simple youth-related topics, 🌶️ hot research topics on youth issues, 📌 easy youth essay topics, ❓ research questions about youth.

• Causes of Youth Unemployment
• The Influence of Social Media on Youth
• Impact of Reality Shows on Youth: Essay Sample
• Youth Crime Prevention and Needs Assessment
• Effects of Domestic Violence on Children and Youth
• How Gaming Consoles Influence the Youth
• Parents Are to Blame for Youth Violence
• Unequal Opportunity of Urban Youth
• Effect of Advertising on Youth
• The History of Youth Style and Resistance
• Smartphone Addiction Among American Youth While the smartphone is a valuable tool that has benefited civilization, the ensuing mental addiction has a profound, lasting impact on individuals’ health.
• Youth Life and Social Changes in Developed Countries This essay analyzes social changes affecting young people in developed countries in the social, political, economic and cultural spheres.
• The Forums for the Youths Case study one entitled ‘youth public intellectuals’ (YPI) is a youth organization that fights for the rights of the black and Latino youths.
• Youth’s Use of Social Media and Its Impact on Narcissism This paper has presented an overview of the problem of narcissism that prevails in contemporary youth due to their problematic use of social media platforms.
• The Relationship Between Youth, Lifestyle and Consumption The idea of youth in the modern world has not been explicitly attached to a certain age group, and became the focus of the global consumer culture as a whole.
• Sexual Activities and Responsibility Among Youth It is socially reckless for young people to have friends with benefits with whom they engage in different forms of sexual activities only for sexual satisfaction.
• Western Movies and Their Effect on Arab Youth There is the fear that Western movies are affecting the Arab Youth. Parents believe that these movies are the source of the queer behaviors among the youths.
• Child and Youth Work Trouble Youth The child and youth care (CYC) domain of social awareness is the significant sphere for today’s youth. In this respect, the paper is dedicated to the role of the CYC practitioner.
• Adult Sentencing for Youth: Canadian Perspective The proponents of so-called restorative justice reason that the criminal justice system should operate on the premise that a juvenile action does not equate to that of an adult.
• Social Problems and Policy: Youth Unemployment and Mental Health In the history of the US, the federal and state governments have been at the forefront to facilitate effective social programs.
• Employment and Working Conditions: Youth Exploitation Young workers are more vulnerable to exploitation as compared to old workers. This exploitation is base on payment and working conditions among other workplace issues.
• The Beatles’ “Let It Be” and Youth Music Culture The Beatles were one of the most powerful musical icons of the 1960s and, as a result, their songs could serve as a good reflection of the time when the band was active.
• Promoting Youth Cultural Diversity Awareness Today’s youth must be aware of cultural diversity to avoid problems that may arise when interacting and working with people who are different from themselves.
• Youth Victimization: Prevalence and Implications In the ‘Youth Victimization: Prevalence and Implications” report was written by the experts of the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center
• The Public Health Campaign on STDs Among the Youth This essay discusses unprotected sex among teenagers as a public health issue that promulgates the spread of STDs, and the public health campaigners on STDs.
• Youth Ministry: Goals, Methods, and Standards Youth ministry is the practice of working with younger people that promotes Christian faith and church attendance.
• Discussion of Why the Youth Join Gangs Youth violence is a big problem in many parts of the world, including America but when the youths form gangs, the challenge becomes even bigger and harder to solve.
• Lack of Emergency Shelter and Its Effect on the Homeless Youth Emergency shelters are specifically designed to meet the unique needs that homeless youths face due to their tender age and lack of life skills.
• The Parent-Teacher-Youth Mediation Program The Parent-Teacher-Youth Mediation Program is designed to build relationships between family members from different generations.
• Why Promote Acceptance of Youth Styles Among Adults? Partnering with young adults and respecting their perceptions promotes essential opportunities such as leadership structure, skill-building, and cause-based actions.
• Empowering Youth Engagement in Society The reference list of the books about positive changes that can be accrued from youth participation in the various community activities.
• Real Education for Healthy Youth Act Real Education for Healthy Youth Act of 2019 is a bill initially sponsored by Junior Senator Cory Booker that promotes comprehensive sex education in higher education institutions.
• Community Policing: The Alternative Solution to Youth Crime Community policing is a better alternative especially when it comes to the sensitive nature of juvenile crime.
• Youth as a Social Class and Phenomenon Review The given selection of the articles has been chosen on the basis of two criteria: they deal with the youth and they explain different aspects and issues connected with media education
• Working Youth: Psychological Observations in Café This study reviews various meanings of working in the experience of young individuals based on field notes and a few-hours observation in one of the local coffee shops.
• Youth Addiction Prevention and Rehabilitation This paper looks at the prevention for youths who are yet to begin using drugs and those who are addicted and establish an advocacy for rehabilitation for youths.
• Youth and Media in “The Merchants of Cool” Movie The Merchants of Cool film that today’s marketers have to be creative to influence the youth into buying their ideas and products.
• Media Consumption’s Role in Youth Recreation This essay analyzes the role of media consumption in youth recreation, focusing on Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, and the Internet in general.
• Conversation between a Youth Worker and an Emo Teenager This paper aims to create a hypothetical conversation between a youth worker and an emo teenager about teenager’s decision to become emo and future goals in life.
• The Health Effects of E-Cigarettes, Vapes, and Juul on Today’s Youth The content of harmful substances in the composition of liquid for e-cigarettes and other smoking devices is a severe threat to the health of young people.
• Youth and Adulthood: A Comparative Analysis Murray and Brooks explore the themes of identity, the fleeting nature of life, and the concepts of rebelliousness and conformity, which they achieve by using epistrophes.
• Two-Lives, One Partner: Indo-Canadian Youth Between Love and Arranged Marriages Netting expands knowledge about the marriage patterns and choices of Indo-Canadian youth: the ways they balance between the possibilities of “love marriage” and “arranged marriage”.
• Youth Policy: Brief Analysis Queensland Juvenile Justice Act (1992) has a controversial approach to age of offenders and the role of caution and sentencing practices for young criminals.
• Youth Violence and Gang Culture in Georgia The problems with youth violence and gang culture remain crucial for all countries. This paper concentrates on the causes of violence-related events in Georgia and analyzes them.
• Balenciaga’s New Style as an Indicator of Modern Youth This essay aims to analyse the current Balenciaga Triple S sneakers collection, a defining era of the second half of the last decade.
• Western Movies and Arab Youth The Western movies tend to reflect a lifestyle that is luxurious in nature and full of freedom, different from the contemporary lifestyle in the Arab world.
• Anxiety Among Substance-Abusing Youth
• Cinema, American Youth, and Rebellion Against Authority
• Animal Abuse and Youth Violence
• Factors That Restrict Success Within Youth Sport
• Can Fixed-Term Contracts Put Low-Skilled Youth on a Better Career Path?
• Family Networks and Youth Access to Jobs
• Discrimination Against LGBT Youth in US Schools
• Entrepreneurship: The Future for Our Youth and Our Economy
• Crime Youth and Childhood Understanding Theory and Research
• Alcohol Advertising Raises Consumption Rates in Youth
• Can Employment Subsidies and Greater Labor Market Flexibility Increase Job Opportunities for Youth?
• Drug Abuse and Its Effects on Youth and Teenagers
• Engaging Parents, Youth, and Schools in Developing Academic Success
• Are Today’s Youth Digital Natives
• Antidepressants and Youth: Healing or Harmful
• Factors That Fuel the Spread of HIV Infection Among the Youth
• Homeless Children and Youth: Causes and Consequences
• Education and the Youth Movement in Nazi Germany
• Casual Sexual Behavior Among Youth
• Adolescent Development and Development of Youth Programs
• Health and Wellbeing Australian Children and Youth Related
• Does Cyberbullying Impact Youth Suicidal Behaviors
• Are Our Youth Different? New Beliefs for Old Practices in Entrepreneurship
• How Advertising Influence Youth Attitude Toward Dressing
• Education and Youth Unemployment in South Africa
• Addressing Depression Among Native Youths The current paper aims to utilize a Medicine Wheel model and a social work paradigm to manage depression among Native American Indian youths.
• A Contemporary Issue Affecting Immigrant-Origin Youth Immigration is an arduous journey that affects not only adult immigrants but also their children, who have to face the challenges of continuing their development.
• At-Risk Factors for Youth in Alberta The paper states that one of the massive problems that might influence the youth of Alberta and their future is an environmental disaster.
• Building a Business to Address Youth Unemployment An opportunity to build a business based on the youth unemployment problem has both strengths and weaknesses, also opportunities for further development.
• Youth Programs: Youth Justice Program This paper examines Youth Justice Program and offers an alternate version of it, analyzing the ways in which the alternative meets specific needs.
• Aboriginal Youth’s Risks and Resilience More research focusing on strategies to reduce risks and develop resiliency for Aboriginal youth will help make their lives easier.
• Youths and the Welfare Provision Services In Alberta, Ontario, and Manitoba, youths involved in the welfare provision services have common interests and issues that affect them.
• Ethical Issues in Medical Care of Youth The question of what attitude of doctors on the part of ethical considerations should be appropriate for children will be relevant for a long time.
• Discussion of Youth Services Provide Care In Alberta, Ontario, and Manitoba, youth services provide care to youths between 18-29 years old and under the care of directors.
• Public Schools and Vaccination of Youth Vaccines could be described as safety measures to prevent illnesses by stimulating an immune system to produce a prepared defense against a particular sickness.
• E3YDH’s Creating Opportunities for Youth Program E3YDH’s Creating Opportunities for Youth Program offers a solution to the problem of young employment in Mbombela, Mpumalanga, with the help of a creative economy.
• Youth Struggling with Mental Illnesses Mental health problems are a group of illnesses that affect a person’s general well-being and negatively affect everyday life.
• Youth Self-Reported Health and Their Experience of Parental Incarceration The study utilizes data from the Minnesota Student Survey, which was conducted every three years and included questions on health behaviors, dietary habits, and sleep patterns.
• Youth Primary Prevention Education Program Youth Primary Prevention Education aims at preventing sexual violence with a focus on promoting positive individual, relationship and societal behavior.
• Treating Substance Use Among Youth Experiencing Homelessness in California Homelessness puts the youths in unstable housing situations and at a higher risk of substance use. Homelessness in California has been one of the top challenges.
• The Spiritual Bond Between Youth and Adults In the work “The Man to Send Rain Clouds,” Silko highlights the essential role of spiritual heritage. He depicts the spiritual bonds between different generations.
• The Role Cultural Continuity Plays in Youth Suicide Rates Among Indigenous People Even though Canada is considered one of the world’s developed countries, suicide cases are rising, especially among the indigenous groups.
• A Latino Youth Photovoice Project on Teen Pregnancy The improvements within the education should have been discussed in a more thorough manner; the means of increasing teen pregnancy awareness among Latin American students.
• Homeless Youth in Colorado: The Urge to Act Some youngsters are forced to leave their homes, and some have unstable emotional states or experience other different issues in their lives.
• Communication Plan Related to STDs Among the Youth The main aim of this paper was to highlight implementation and evaluation and plan of the communication campaign, review the timeline and milestones of the marketing campaign.
• Public Health Campaign on STD Among the Youth In this paper, the author analyzed irrelevant and biased messages in society and how they impact public health.
• At-Risk Youth and Sex Trafficking Issue This essay attempts to look at the issue of child sex trafficking and provide a better understanding of its harms.
• Juvenile Delinquency: The Marginalized Youths For the delinquency programs and policies to work, the government must give priority to the marginalized youths. It should emphasize matters concerning the youth.
• The Problem of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth Suicidality Recently, there was a sharp increase in cases of suicides committed by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth.
• Youth Violence in the Film “The Interrupters” The film, “The Interrupters” goes further to highlight how certain issues have affected how the youth in Chicago perceive their environment and the people around them.
• Antismoking Ads and Youth Smoking Prevalence The article “Evidence of a dose-response relationship between “truth” antismoking ads and youth smoking prevalence” elaborates on the influence of antismoking advertisements.
• A Preliminary Randomized Controlled Evaluation of a Universal Healthy Relationships Promotion Program for Youth This essay will discuss and analyze a research article describing a small group program focused on preventing bullying and decreasing substance abuse among adolescents.
• Ethical Grounds of Nursing in Youth Mental Health When Young adults with mental health problems are nearing their adult years, they may face the difficulty of transitioning between juvenile and adult medical systems.
• Reducing Cigarette Smoking American Youth The number of smokers among juvenility in America is alarming. Instead of going down, this amount just leveled up.
• Review of a Youth Risk Behaviour Survey Youth Risk Behaviour Survey is the primary national source of data concerning the youth and their health-related attitudes, so it should be reliable and not biased.
• Suicide Within the Youth: Causal Analysis The problem of suicide within youth is one of the most burning problems nowadays. Suicide is generally regarded as the third cause of death for young people between 10 and 24.
• Suicide Among Youth: Issue Review One of the latter is the problem of suicide of youth located at various facilities according to the Foster Care System which is being implemented in numerous countries around the world.
• Can Keeping Troubled Youth in Class Make a Difference? The methods that are geared towards keeping young people in school work best compared to suspension and expulsion.
• Why American Boarding Schools Are Effective at Educating the Youth? Two broad categories of schools – day and boarding schools. Reasons as to why boarding schools perform a better job at educating our youth.
• Youth Obesity In Clark County in Vancouver Washington The major factors contributing to the rise in obesity cases are; inadequate dietary intake of fruits and vegetables, high intake of refined food, and inadequate physical exercise.
• Does Changing the Legal Drinking Age Influence Youth Behaviour
• Correlation Between Youth Sports Athletes and Leadership
• Academic Enrichment Programs Targeted for Inner City Youth
• Factors Impacting Youth Development in Haiti
• Does Child Labor Reduce Youth Crime
• Contemporary Music and the Effects It Has on Youth
• Causal Relationship Between Television and Effects on Today’s Youth
• Does the Internet Hurt Youth or Does Its Use Need to Be Monitored More?
• Cultural Identity Among Sudanese Youth
• Can Youth Make India a Superpower?
• Child Development and Success or Failure in the Youth Labor Market
• Factors Influencing Educational Choices of Romanian Rural Youth
• African-American Youth Public Speaking and Community Relations
• Cyber Bullying: The Latest Threat to Hawaii’s Youth
• Death Penalty for Youth Offenders
• American Youth Slangs and Their Equivalents in Kazakh and Russian
• Civil Disobedience Youth Nation Line
• Family Leisure, Self-Management, and Satisfaction in Spanish Youth
• Dangerous Driving and the Effects on Youth
• Drug Abuse Among Youth as a Serious Problem Within the United
• Cash Transfers Improve the Mental Health and Well-Being of Youth
• Educating Our Youth Toward Responsible Citizenry
• Dead-End Jobs and Youth Unemployment
• Anger Management Group: Youth Behavior Modification Program
• Cognitive Skills and the Youth Labor Market
• Youth Violence: The Columbine High School Case For educators, the easy description of violence is any infliction or threat to cause emotional or physical harm to another person’s feelings, body, or belongings.
• Proper Education Through Music for Youth for HIV, AID Prevention The attachment of youths to music and their high level of vulnerability form the basis for the implementation of a prevention strategy , use of music to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS.
• Youthful View of the American Dream During Uncertain Economic Times The American Dream for youth is now all about helping the country reclaim it’s rightful place of leadership in the world.
• Protective Factors Against Youthful Depression Several iterations of multiple correlation, step-wise and hierarchical regression yielded inconclusive results about the antecedents of youthful depression.
• Youth Unemployment in the United Kingdom Over the years, there have been remarkable unemployment rates among the youths all across the globe as compared to the age brackets that are regarded as adults.
• Innovating Youth Employment Policies and Programs to Create Workforce The paper is aimed to show the analysis of factors that influence unemployment and underemployment of young Black males.
• Arab Societies. Youth Bulges and State Repression in Algeria The significant objective that necessitates repression is to maintain control of power. In the case of Algeria, President Bouteflika wanted to maintain control of power.
• “The Wife of His Youth” by Charles Chesnutt In “The Wife of his Youth,” Charles Chesnutt describes the story of Mr. Ryder, a prosperous African American with light skin which meets his wife, Liza Jane, after a long period of being apart.
• Youth Violence in the United States Youth violence is one of the major topics that have dominated political and social debates in the United States for a long time.
• Working With Children and Youth This paper highlights issue of working with children and youth by focusing on websites for children which give emotional support, and discussing youth gangs.
• Marketer’s Interaction With Youth and Children Branding is a process of connecting and building a bond between products and its clients. A Brand basically refers to a name or image by which a given product is identified.
• Education for Positive Youth Sports Experiences Sports enable children and young people to develop physically, mentally, and psychologically. These are the three major educational outcomes of physical education.
• “Assessing the Effects of Voluntary Youth Service” by McAdam and Brandt The article “Assessing the Effects of Voluntary Youth Service: The Case of Teach for America” dwells upon the civic commitment of people who had TFA experience.
• Challenges with Homeless and Runaway Youth in Hawaii The number of homeless youth is high in the state. They have unique needs and are exposed to risks that differ from those faced by adults living on the streets.
• Challenges With Homeless and Runaway Youth in Waianae The problem in question is concerned with one of the acutest burdens of young people living in the Waianae area of Hawaii: homelessness.
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• Does Technology Influence Youth in a Positive or in a Negative Way?

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StudyCorgi. (2021, September 9). 211 Youth Essay Topics & Research Titles about Teenage Issues. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/youth-essay-topics/

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StudyCorgi . "211 Youth Essay Topics & Research Titles about Teenage Issues." September 9, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/youth-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . 2021. "211 Youth Essay Topics & Research Titles about Teenage Issues." September 9, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/youth-essay-topics/.

These essay examples and topics on Youth were carefully selected by the StudyCorgi editorial team. They meet our highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, and fact accuracy. Please ensure you properly reference the materials if you’re using them to write your assignment.

This essay topic collection was updated on January 20, 2024 .

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Youth Anxiety, Depression, and Digital Media

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Increased rates of anxiety and depression in children and adolescents have coincided with a continued rise in average daily hours of youth digital media use.  What do parents and educators need to know about media use and youth suffering from anxiety and depression?  What are helpful strategies to talk with vulnerable kids about their media use and help them build self-monitoring skills? What types of media are more likely to exacerbate mental health issues, and which might offer therapeutic benefits?

On This Page

Recognize problematic anxiety.

“It’s normal for any parent to have anxiety and any kid to have anxiety,” says Erin Berman, PhD, Clinical Psychologist at the National Institute of Mental Health.  Children may feel anxiety as a momentary, normal response at the beginning of a school year, after reading traumatic news or when experiencing stressful one-time social situations on- or offline.

When does anxiety cross into being problematic to teens?  Berman suggests looking for the following signs of more serious distress from anxiety:

• Persistent (more than a few months) and intense feelings of anxiousness that interfere with normal functioning
• Irritability
• Sleep issues
• Problems being alone
• Not liking to be center of attention/social anxiety
• Sudden school absences
• Disinterest in making friends
• Confining themselves to a bedroom most of the time
• Fight or flight symptoms such as: Stomachaches, headaches, nausea, frequent trips to bathroom, tightness and pain in chest, dizziness, sweating, heart racing

Recognize Warning Signs of Depression

Teens suffering from depression share some similarities to problematic anxiety and include sustained and persistent symptoms that may include:

• Disengagement from normal life activities previously enjoyed – school, activities, friends
• Self-injury

(Janis Whitlock, PhD, Scientist Emerita, Cornell University; Founder and Director, Cornell Research Program on Self-Injury and Recovery)

Understand that Context Matters with Digital Media and Mental Health

“We know that there are many ways that we might see depression being associated with digital media use, including the ways in which mood might affect what teens choose to do online, what time they go online, what platforms they might engage in,” says Mitch Prinstein, PhD, ABPP, Chief Science Officer of the American Psychological Association.

“The research in this area is continuing to suggest that there’s a combination of who a child is that interacts with what specific kinds of digital media activities and platforms they engage in that might be most important to understand any particular outcome. A resilient adolescent who uses digital media to chat with their friends and talk about the news might be fine. However, someone that’s experiencing social or psychological vulnerabilities and engages with the most harmful or addictive or concerning stimuli on digital media might have a much worse outcome,” explains Prinstein.

Look Beyond “Active” Versus “Passive” Use

Much advice for healthy media use focuses on the positive aspects of “active” or interactive use over more negative outcomes from “passive” media consumption.  However, Sarah Myruski, PhD, Assistant Research Professor in Psychology, Associate Lab Director, Emotion Development Lab at Pennsylvania State University cautions against this limited view. “We’re finding that not all active forms are beneficial,” she says. Going deeper into which types of use have positive or harmful effects on a specific child is recommended.

For example, Myruski notes that active usage for socializing that comes at the cost of excluding face-to-face interaction wouldn’t necessarily be a positive net use of digital media. Conversely, there are some passive forms of tech use like receiving information, news, or entertainment that are not harmful, compared to passive use like “doom scrolling” through endless social media feeds. 

For youth suffering from depression, passive social media use like listening to music and watching videos is common as a form of temporary distraction or escape in order to cope with distress or self-harm urges, says Lizzy Winstone, PhD, at Population Health Sciences, University of Bristol, UK. Yet some depressed teens who actively are help-seeking by messaging or posting online can sometimes be viewed by peers as attention-seeking and risk being bullied or ostracized as a result.

For youth of color, Henry Willis, PhD, Assistant Professor, Clinical Psychology Program,  Director of the Cultural Resilience, Equity, and Technology (CREATE) Lab at the University of Maryland, College Park notes the double-edged nature of some active screen time. “We know that [youth] may actively engage others on social media around race-related topics as a way to resist or engage in activism. That can be good in terms of helping them cope with some of those experiences. At the same time, we know that also opens them up for attack from trolls and other people, so it can be tricky,” he says. Passive use of TikTok to watch videos that promote joy or resourcefulness can also benefit youth, he notes.

Educate on the Most Harmful Uses of Media

“Parents need to know about doom scrolling,” says Berman, so that they can help their children understand how harmful that activity can be when suffering from anxiety or depression. Doom scrolling can be defined as persistently attending to negative information in news feeds about crises, disasters, and tragedies. 1 “When you’re depressed or down or anxious, I can’t tell you how many patients just fall into the doom scrolling trap. Knowing the difference [between normal and doom scrolling] is more helpful than just saying, ‘Don’t scroll!”’ – because everyone scrolls.”

Algorithm-driven social media feeds can sometimes provide more and more extreme and harsh content as a way of keeping people engaged, says Anne Maheux, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Winston Family Distinguished Fellow at the Winston National Center on Technology Use, Brain, and Psychological Development. “This is different from cyberbullying,” she notes. “This is exposure to hate, exposure to violence, and exposure to potentially traumatizing content.”

Role Model Healthy Use

Looking at your own screen use and role modeling appropriate media use is very important, says Sandra Fritsch, MD, Medical Director, Pediatric Mental Health Institute at Children’s Hospital Colorado. “I go out into my waiting room and see no one talking anymore. Everyone is on their separate screen.” Participating as a family in screen-free time where the whole family commits to taking a walk together and meals are uninterrupted reinforces a healthy balanced approach to using digital media. “Be able to look at your own use, make some modifications, and then go forward with that,” Fritsch suggests. 

“I’ve had little kids in my office tell me they’d rather ride with their grandparents because their parents are busy texting and they feel safer riding with their grandparents,” says Fritsch. “What are we doing if we say ‘Don’t be on screens’ and we’re checking our own screens?  We can model it behaviorally and the kids see that,” adds Berman.

Encourage Meaningful Social Relationships

“We know from extensive research that social interaction, adaptive social behaviors and the opportunity to have meaningful, emotionally-disclosing relationships with others are important protective factors against depression, particularly in the context of stress,” says Prinstein.

While digital media is often an important way for teens to feel socially connected, anxious teens who habitually prefer media use to face-to-face interactions “might miss out on opportunities to hone their social skills, to get practice managing their emotions and real time interactions,” notes Myruski. This in turn may intensify the desire to stay in the more controlled online environment.

“Science tells us that one of the biggest predictors of depression or worsening of depression for those already experiencing symptoms is social isolation,” says Prinstein. “One of the best treatments for depression is what we call behavioral activation or, in simpler terms, getting kids out of their rooms or homes and actual face-to-face engagement and exercise.”

Prioritize Media Interactions Most Like In-Person Ones

While an overall balance between digital media use and face-to-face time is important for healthy social functioning, when using digital media or when in situations where in-person interactions are not possible, it’s best to opt for forms of digital communication that include some real-time social cues, like voice calls or Facetime, because they more closely resemble in-person interactions, says Myruski.

Teach Self-Monitoring Skills

Youth (and adults) have enormous demands placed on their attention by social media platforms designed to keep them scrolling. “Many young people, but especially those with mental health difficulties, can struggle to self-regulate their social media use, sometimes describing themselves as feeling ‘addicted’,” says Winstone. 

Monitoring how one feels before and after media use with something like a mood tracker can help with anxiety, adds Myruski. “There’s evidence that simply self-monitoring our digital media use without even cutting back or trying to change anything else can help ease anxiety.”

Help teach your teen to self-monitor if they will allow it, encourages Myruski. “Browse the social media feed together. Ask them what’s drawing their attention, what are they thinking and feeling when they see this different content? And also ask them to talk about what they experience online in their day-to-day life. What’s fun about it? What’s worrying about it? What do they wish was different?”

“Young people are just going to need to be more self-aware than they’ve ever needed to be at a young age,” says Whitlock. “They have to navigate social media environments that require them to know a lot more about themselves and recognize early warning signs that they’re getting overwhelmed by stimuli.”

Avoid Over-Restriction of Digital Media

“While some boundaries are important with digital media use, high levels of restriction could lead teens to hiding their use, like going to the bathroom during ‘no screentime dinner’” says Myruski. In addition, a highly restrictive approach to media use may increase teen stress and anxiety because of the social consequences of not being a reliable or supportive friend to others. 

“Taking away devices or disallowing the connection that happens online as a punishment does not help promote a lot of responsibility or help youth learn how to manage with targeted intervention,” notes Whitlock.

Communicate Concern with Calmness and Validation

Many parents concerned about digital media use that may be contributing to symptoms of anxiety or depression do not know how to approach their child with their worries. “Kids and teens want the parent to be interested and validating, and to stay calm,” says Sandra Whitehouse, PhD, Senior Director and Senior Psychologist of the Anxiety Disorders Center at the Child Mind Institute. “An easy manner seems to really help.”

“Treat teens as experts in this and let them lead the conversation,” says Willis. “They may know a better roundabout to curb their use than you do.”

For those with children already in therapy, Whitlock suggests consulting with the therapist may help identify strategic ways to have fruitful conversations.

Use Questions and Be Collaborative

Fritsch suggests engaging with curiosity rather than talking “at” teens, asking questions like “‘Are you worried? Do you have any concerns about your own use of screen time? What do you think is the healthy part? Where are the worrisome parts?”

Working together in collaboration also may help reduce teen anxiety around parental conversations, as they will feel they have some control instead of just being told what to do, says Berman.

One way to lead into a collaborative conversation about media use Whitehouse suggests is to ask for their feedback on your own screen use, and what guidelines they think would be appropriate for your use.

Be Open to Dialogue However It Shows Up

Digital devices may provide avenues of parental support and communication for youth having difficulty sharing emotions or vulnerable thoughts in person, says Whitlock. For her daughter, she found that “there were things she could say in text that she would not tell me at the moment as a 16-year-old,” so they developed an emoji-based text check-in that helped her keep tabs on her daughter’s immediate emotional state without being overwhelming.

Know the Risks – Media and Self-Harm/Suicide

Suicide is now the second leading cause of death for 10–14-year-olds and the third leading cause for 15–24-year-olds, says Vicki Harrison, MSW, Program Director of the Center for Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine. “Almost a quarter of high school students reported seriously considering suicide in the past year.” 

While some young people who self-harm find viewing self-harm imagery helpful in managing their urges, for others this can lead to exposure to content where they can learn about new methods of self-harm and run the risk of being inadvertently exposed to triggering or increasingly extreme material, explains Winstone. In addition, viewing images of self-harm can lead youth to compare their own self-harm with others, sometimes leading to feelings of competition for more severe injury and supporting development of a “self-harm identity,” she says.

Parasocial attachment to certain celebrities or media personalities may exacerbate “social contagion” risk to vulnerable youth if those personalities engage in suicide or self-harm behavior and are subject to media coverage of it, says Harrison. “The greater the media coverage and/or the closer they are to the individual whose behavior they’re observing, the more intense the exposure to that, the more the effect. They may be identifying with an individual, especially if it’s a celebrity or someone very well-known.”

Media or social media coverage that exacerbates “social contagion” of suicide content include sensational headlines, descriptions of specific methods used to die by suicide, and pictures of detailed descriptions of the deceased individual. If individuals choose to share or post online about a suicide, they can avoid amplifying and adding to the effect on young and vulnerable people, says Harrison. “You don’t want to include details, you don’t want to sensationalize, and you don’t want to speculate as to reasons behind a death.”

Understand Interplay of Emotion Regulation and Anxiety with Media Use

“We know from decades of research that difficulties with emotion regulation underlie elevated anxiety in youth, and emotion regulation capacity in the brain undergoes profound development during adolescence,” says Myruski. 

Teens with emotion regulation and anxiety problems may gravitate to digital media rather than face-to-face social interactions because of the heightened ability to control the digital environment, explains Myruski. “That could be likely because online platforms offer greater controllability. We can plan out what we want to say. We have time to consider how we’re going to respond and also curate how we present ourselves. People with emotion regulation difficulties, and or anxiety, especially perhaps social anxiety, might find those features of digital media particularly appealing.”

Myruski cites recent research indicating that difficulties with emotion regulation might put some teens more at risk for the downsides of digital media use. Their strong preference for using digital media might represent a heightened need for control and avoidance of unpredictable and emotionally taxing interactions that occur face to face.

Work to Reduce Overinvestment in Social Media Metrics

“A lot of teens are invested in the number of likes or quantifiable metrics of peer approval that they receive online,” says Maheux. “I’ve heard directly from teens that they engage in all sorts of behaviors to try to get more likes,” and will sometimes delete content quickly that doesn’t get the positive feedback they crave. This intense investment in social metrics is not a good substitute for quality friendships and peer relationships. “If teens have opportunities to think critically about their motivation for posting things and seeking out this kind of online status, that could help them engage in more beneficial ways,” she suggests.

Youth suffering from depression may suffer from the inherent pressure on social platforms to present a “happy” or confident self-presentation in content posted online, which can feel draining. In addition, “when posts don’t receive positive feedback, young people with depression may also be more likely to internalize this, which can then further exacerbate those negative emotions or poor self-esteem,” says Winstone.

What To Do (and Not to Do) During a Child Anxiety Attack

If your child or student is experiencing an intense anxiety attack related to something on their phone or online, it can be difficult to know what to do to help them through it. Berman suggests a few key approaches to successfully assist.

What to Do:

• Listen and don’t talk a lot. Kids are not able to listen when they are upset.
• Model being calm. This can be hard as a concerned parent.  If you can’t do it, find another person or even a pet in the house that can help bring calm.
• Remind them that the anxiety or panic attack always ends.
• Grounding – use mental or physical grounding techniques to distract and calm the senses.
• Slow things down and focus on problem-solving.
• Say helpful things like “Take your time” and “It’s okay” or “How can I help?”
• Do not say minimizing, unhelpful comments like “Quit being dramatic,” “Toughen up,” “Try harder,” “You’re being lazy,” or “You’re crazy”.

Practice Emotion Regulation and Coping Skills

To help a child cope with anxiety from both online and offline situations, parents should avoid over-accommodating and instead help them practice the skills they need to cope with situations that give them anxiety, says Berman. “As a parent, being too directive or too reassuring can be problematic,” she notes. “What anxious kids need to know – and you need to encourage – is that they’re brave, resourceful, and are thinkers.”

For example, Berman suggests that when a child is experiencing a high-anxiety time or is scared to text a certain friend, coach them by saying “Don’t let your mind tell you you can’t do hard things – because you absolutely can.” For a child that prefers only online interactions and has social anxiety, Berman suggests role-playing or helping them find virtual reality exercises that allow them to develop situational social skills.  

If listening to a parent isn’t working, finding a peer-aged relative or friend who can help them practice may be more effective. “Young people tend to be more likely to absorb the information if it’s shared by peers,” says Winstone.

“Seek ways to practice emotion regulation throughout everyday activities,” says Myruski. “Talking through emotions with things like journaling, artistic expression, and/or through interventions that are specifically designed to improve emotion regulation like therapy and mindfulness practices,” can help improve emotion regulation which can help prevent anxiety.

Foster Media Literacy for Resilience

“There is some evidence that media literacy can support users to mitigate various risks” says Winstone. “We really need to be equipping young people with the tools they need to use social media safely and positively.” 

Schools, parents, and caregivers can encourage media literacy by educating youth on the many ways algorithms are shaping experiences online, how social media platforms are designed to keep people on their feed, and awareness of the risks from media usage to child self-image and identity, online relationships, online reputation, cyberbullying, managing online information, fake news, privacy, security, and copyright, says Winstone. 

Appeal to teens’ natural desire for autonomy to foster this literacy, suggests Maheux. “They value the idea that they are able to make decisions with an autonomous worldview. The idea that social media companies are trying to exploit them is something that I think they want to know, and that likely bothers them,” she says.

Retrain Algorithms to Curate a Healthy Timeline

Part of today’s online self-care, especially for those suffering from anxiety or depression, is exerting some control over what content the feeds deliver by developing skills to navigate algorithms, says Winstone. Young people should understand that engaging with certain content, such as dieting or melancholy, can quickly lead to more extreme content being suggested to users, including eating disorder or self-harm related content.

“Harness and manipulate the algorithms to work in a more positive way, rather than just as a profit-making tool for the companies,” says Winstone. This can take the form of doing several searches for entertaining, funny and/or positive content – the more you engage with that content, the more the algorithm will deliver. “You can curate your experience and be proactive. Be deliberate about what you’re going on an app for, and how you can take care of yourself as you navigate it,” says Harrison.

Find Online Resources to Help Kids Thrive

“Digital media can provide opportunities for well-being and for thriving,” notes Maheux. Especially for minority youth, there’s a lot of emerging evidence about the potential benefits of engaging in digital spaces. “Digital media offers these amazing opportunities to belong to a community, to experience connection with others, to be a part of something that’s greater than oneself and have a sense of purpose that’s really valuable for adolescents,” she says. “These resources can moderate these links between general and minority stressors and mental health.”

For teens who are developmentally learning about what is “normal” for dating and romantic relationships, finding those with shared lived experiences and identities can promote well-being. Maheux notes that especially for queer teens, “access to healthy and respectful dating partners can also be a huge benefit of digital media.”

Focus on Safety and Privacy on Social Platforms

It’s difficult to stay on top of all the popular platforms and features, but it’s “absolutely important” for any adult interacting with youth regularly to be familiar with the individual platform safety and privacy features such as age restrictions and media balance features, as well as good citizenship rules and practices, says Whitlock, as they can vary quite a bit. Media balance settings like “Your Activity” in Instagram allow users to track and set time limits on platform use as well as set reminders to take breaks.

Platforms such as Snapchat for example, where visual images are sent and “disappear” quickly, may give youth a false sense of security, as anyone can take a screenshot and keep the images on a more permanent basis, says Whitlock. “Being aware of where young people might get tripped up because of what the affordances are in the platform is an important part of being a supportive and a contributing adult.”

TikTok is more public, and therefore easier to protect privacy by monitoring what is being accidentally or intentionally disclosed, whereas Instagram’s features make it easier to disclose private information and harder for parents to see that disclosure, says Whitlock.

Help Youth Learn to Trust Their Gut

Equipping youth struggling with anxiety or depression to recognize when their digital media use is affecting them negatively is essential, explains Whitlock. “They need to understand what they start to feel like when the scrolling has gone from being connective or uplifting to sucking away energy and time. There is typically an inner feeling that they can learn to identify. But if they don’t know that it’s there, then they often just pass right over it and then start to spiral,” she says. Learning how to disengage can be very difficult, particularly for younger adolescents.

Help them learn how to discern the feeling they get when they are using media in ways that negatively affect them such as:

• Using media for avoidance
• Engaging in negatively comparing oneself to others on social media
• Feeling FOMO

Promote Healthy Sleep

Teens with anxiety tend to get more anxious on nights they have problems sleeping, says Willis. This may lead to scrolling on their phone, and engagement with social media and other online platforms that make it even more difficult to sleep. “Making sure that sleep is happening and protected is probably the most important thing that we can do,” says Whitlock.

Fritsch advocates for a media-free bedroom. “I say the bed should never be used for anything other than sleep,” she says. “You should not have a laptop in your lap. You should not be on the phone when you’re in bed because the message to your brain is that the bed is for all this stuff” instead of sleep.

However, taking devices completely out of a bedroom from a teen used to them may create more anxiety and aggravation, says Willis. One intervention he has found helpful in clinical practice is to give access to soothing digital media like an audiobook on a speaker, that may help them soothe to sleep but help them avoid being on social media.

Unique Considerations for Marginalized Youth

Youth from minority status groups experience “external” minority stressors, says Maheux, like discrimination and harassment, but also might experience something called “internalized minority stressors,” such as internalized negative attitudes towards one social group like internalized homonegativity or homophobia. “All of these stressors can collectively contribute to negative mental health outcomes like depression, suicidality, anxiety, and disordered eating.” 

The online environment can actually make experiences like victimization or discrimination worse than in offline environments, says Maheux. Factors that make online victimization potentially more harmful to marginalized youth mental health are:

• Publicness – discriminatory experiences may have more perpetrators at once and a wider audience, creating more stress.
• 24/7 availability – difficult to escape the experience, making it feel or actually be ever-present.
• Anonymity/Disinhibition effect – people saying things online they wouldn’t say in person, making the experience harsher  and more extreme to the victim.

Considering both risk and resilience factors for marginalized youth is essential to support their mental health and ability to thrive amongst the risk of hate speech, direct and vicarious discrimination and potential exploitation, says Maheux. Key resilience factors are connection, having community role models, and access to information.

Specific Online Risks For Youth of Color Mental Health

Black and Hispanic teens are actually more likely to say they’re online constantly as compared to white teens, notes Willis.  More time online means more exposure for one of the major risk factors for anxiety for youth of color – online racism. Studies have started to show that youth of color are exposed to more online racial discrimination than adults, he says, with one study showing youth experiencing over five racist encounters online in a single day.

“In addition to online racist content such as racist tweets or videos, Black and Hispanic youth have also had to more recently navigate exposure to what we call traumatic race-related events in online spaces,” he explains. Exposure to these racist traumatic events online are risk factors for Black youth and youth of color to increase their risk of anxiety and negative impacts to mental health. Exposure can occur not only on social media sites but video games and virtual reality spaces, individually or witnessed indirectly, and exposure to this content has increased since 2020 and the death of George Floyd that summer.

“Individual online racial discrimination refers to any content that’s directly targeted to a specific adolescent, whereas vicarious online racial discrimination refers to the racist content that adolescents might come across as they’re on Twitter, for example,” says Willis.  

What does anxiety as a result of online racism exposure look like? Willis says to be aware of:

• Increased worry or rumination about going online or on social media due to fear of being targeted due to race
• Worry about seeing traumatic videos, especially if there’s been a recent traumatic occurrence in the media
• Panic symptoms when directly attacked online because of race 
• Panic symptoms in response to exposure to racist content online
• Difficulty concentrating in school
• Increased worry about encountering racism offline
• Excessive avoidance of online spaces or fear/avoidance of real-life places where they may expect to experience racism
• Fear of police encounters
• Feelings of isolation from family and friends, especially in preteens

Factors that may promote resiliency in youth of color to the negative mental health impacts of online experiences of racism can be their racial identity beliefs, says Willis, which is defined as “the significance and quality of meaning that race has in the self-concept of  in particular African Americans but also youth of color,” he says. “We know that racial identity is protective in that it can help you have a better sense of self-concept and also help facilitate how to cope with experiences of racism” in general, says Willis, with recent early findings also showing that these beliefs are also related to fewer anxiety symptoms even when exposed to online racism.

For parents and educators of youth of color, it’s important to be aware when these viral traumatic videos are online and to talk to children about the positive aspects of their culture and identity to help build resilience in the face of the negative messaging that they encounter, says Willis. “From research we know that using racially conscious and relevant materials in curriculum not only helps to develop positive identity beliefs, but it can actually facilitate awareness of online racism so they’re more prepared when they encounter it and are less bothered by it.”

1 Sharma, B., Lee, S. S., & Johnson, B. K. (2022). The dark at the end of the tunnel: Doomscrolling on social media newsfeeds. Technology, Mind, and Behavior, 3 (1: Spring 2022). https://doi.org/10.1037/tmb0000059

Conversation starters that promote positive conversation

Anxiety: Youth Mental Health and Digital Media

The first in a set of webinars investigating two of the most common mental health struggles of youth today: anxiety and depression. 

Depression: Youth Mental Health and Digital Media

What relationship does digital media use have with depressive disorders in youth? Part two of a mental health series.

Early Childhood Mental Health and Digital Media

How does digital media use affect early child development and mental health? How should care providers approach technology use in order to protect and promote mental health in young children (ages 0-5)?

Is social media harmful to youth mental health?

Is social media causing increased rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidal among youth? What do we know about the impacts of social media use on teen mental health and well-being?

LGBTQ+ Youth, Depression, and Media Use

From #AskTheExperts webinar "The Birds and the Bees: Sexuality and Screens"

Youth Self-Esteem and Identity: The Media(ted) Self

What are the risks and opportunities for forming a positive and healthy sense of self in a hyper-connected age?  

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E-Cigarette Use Among Youth

What to know.

E-cigarettes are the most commonly used tobacco product among U.S. youth. No tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, are safe, especially for children, teens, and young adults. Learn more about e-cigarette use among youth.

• In the United States, youth use e-cigarettes, or vapes, more than any other tobacco product. 1
• No tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, are safe, especially for children, teens, and young adults. 2
• Most e-cigarettes contain nicotine, which is highly addictive. Nicotine can harm the parts of an adolescent's brain that control attention, learning, mood, and impulse control. 2
• E-cigarette marketing, the availability of flavored products, social influences, and the effects of nicotine can influence youth to start or continue vaping. 3 4
• Most middle and high school students who vape want to quit. 5
• Many people have an important role in protecting youth from vaping including parents and caregivers, educators and school administrators, health care providers, and community partners.
• States and local communities can implement evidence-based policies, programs, and services to reduce youth vaping.

E-cigarette use among U.S. youth

In 2023, e-cigarettes were the most commonly used tobacco product among middle and high school students in the United States. In 2023: 6

• 550,000 (4.6%) middle school students.
• 1.56 million (10.0%) high school students.
• Among students who had ever used e-cigarettes, 46.7% reported current e-cigarette use.
• 1 in 4 (25.2%) used an e-cigarette every day.
• 1 in 3 (34.7%) used an e-cigarette on at least 20 of the last 30 days.
• 9 in 10 (89.4%) used flavored e-cigarettes.
• Most often used disposable e-cigarettes (60.7%) followed by e-cigarettes with prefilled or refillable pods or cartridges (16.1%).
• Most commonly reported using the following brands: Elf Bar, Esco Bars, Vuse, JUUL, and Mr. Fog.

Most middle and high school students who vape want to quit and have tried to quit. 5 In 2020:

• 63.9% of students who currently used e-cigarettes reported wanting to quit.
• 67.4% of students who currently used e-cigarettes reported trying to quit in the last year.

Most tobacco use, including vaping, starts and is established during adolescence. There are many factors associated with youth tobacco product use . These include:

• Tobacco advertising that targets youth.
• Product accessibility.
• Availability of flavored products.
• Social influences.
• Adolescent brain sensitivity to nicotine.

Some groups of middle and high school students use e-cigarettes at a higher percentage than others. For example, in 2023: 6

• More females than males reported current e-cigarette use.
• Non-Hispanic multiracial students: 20.8%.
• Non-Hispanic White students: 18.4%.
• Hispanic or Latino students: 18.2%.
• Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native students: 15.4%.
• Non-Hispanic Black or African American students: 12.9%.

Many young people who vape also use other tobacco products, including cigarettes and cigars. 7 This is called dual use. In 2020: 8

• About one in three high school students (36.8%) who vaped also used other tobacco products.
• One in two middle school students (49.0%) who vaped also used other tobacco products.

E-cigarettes can also be used to deliver other substances, including cannabis. In 2016, nearly one in three (30.6%) of U.S. middle and high school students who had ever used an e-cigarette reported using marijuana in the device. 9

• Park-Lee E, Ren C, Cooper M, Cornelius M, Jamal A, Cullen KA. Tobacco product use among middle and high school students—United States, 2022 . MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2022;71:1429–1435.
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. E-cigarette Use Among Youth and Young Adults: A Report of the Surgeon General . Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2016. Accessed Feb 14, 2024.
• Apelberg BJ, Corey CG, Hoffman AC, et al. Symptoms of tobacco dependence among middle and high school tobacco users: results from the 2012 National Youth Tobacco Survey . Am J Prev Med. 2014;47(Suppl 1):S4–14.
• Gentzke AS, Wang TW, Cornelius M, et al. Tobacco product use and associated factors among middle and high school students—National Youth Tobacco Survey, United States, 2021 . MMWR Surveill Summ. 2022;71(No. SS-5):1–29.
• Zhang L, Gentzke A, Trivers KF, VanFrank B. Tobacco cessation behaviors among U.S. middle and high school students, 2020 . J Adolesc Health. 2022;70(1):147–154.
• Birdsey J, Cornelius M, Jamal A, et al. Tobacco product use among U.S. middle and high school students—National Youth Tobacco Survey, 2023 . MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2023;72:1173–1182.
• Wang TW, Gentzke AS, Creamer MR, et al. Tobacco product use and associated factors among middle and high school students—United States, 2019 . MMWR Surveill Summ. 2019;68(No. SS-12):1–22.
• Wang TW, Gentzke AS, Neff LJ, et al. Characteristics of e-cigarette use behaviors among US youth, 2020 . JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(6):e2111336.
• Trivers KF, Phillips E, Gentzke AS, Tynan MA, Neff LJ. Prevalence of cannabis use in electronic cigarettes among U.S. youth . JAMA Pediatr. 2018;172(11):1097–1099.

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What Do Young Voters Want? Candidates Are Determined To Find Out

President Joe Biden speaking about student loan debt relief at Madison Area Technical College in Madison, Wisconsin, April 8, 2024. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images) ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

President Joe Biden speaking about student loan debt relief at Madison Area Technical College in Madison, Wisconsin, April 8, 2024. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

A little less than six months out from the general election, it seems like a new poll comes out every few minutes. And almost every poll includes questions that probe the how voters under 30 might cast their ballot, and why.

Both Democrats and Republicans are courting the youth vote. In what is expected to be a close race, younger millennials and Gen Z could determine who wins or who loses the presidency.

But it's by no means a unified vote. There's a widening gender gap among young voters, with women leaning more liberal and men leaning more conservative.

NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben talks with Christian Paz, Senior Politics Reporter at Vox. They break down what the polls indicate about how men and women under thirty are likely to vote, and why.

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org .

Email us at [email protected] .

This episode was produced by Mia Venkat and edited by Jeanette Woods. Additional reporting by Elena Moore. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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Topic / Development and Economic Growth

Interview with African Union Youth Envoy Chido Mpemba

by- John McQuillan  |  May 29, 2024

On April 13, 2024, HKS Student Policy Review Senior Editor John McQuillan spoke with Chido Mpemba. The coversation focused on a range of topics related to young people in Africa.

Chido Mpemba is the Youth Envoy at the African Union Commission where she assists in championing youth development issues in Africa. She was appointed as the second African Union Youth Envoy by the chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki in November 2021, as the youngest senior official in the history of the African Union and youngest diplomat in the chairperson’s cabinet. Chido took over from Aya Chebbi from Tunisia.

Before being appointed to the African Union as the Youth Envoy on November 1, 2021, she had worked as a banker at Standard Chartered Bank, and also worked for the Ministry of Youth Arts, Sport, and Recreation in her country, Zimbabwe.

Development and Economic Growth

• Poverty, Inequality and Opportunity

About the author

John mcquillan.

John is a master’s student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, studying education policy and analysis. Prior to attending Harvard, John was a Leadership for Education Equity Public Policy Fellow, where he worked on education policy for the District of Columbia. John also was a middle school social studies teacher in New Orleans and has prior experience serving in state government for the State of Florida. John graduated magna cum laude from Florida State University with a B.S. in political science and English.

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