| 1. |
- Ahlborg, Mikael G., et al.
(author)
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SoCap YMH - youth mental health, social capital and help-seeking : a study protocol
- 2024
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In: Frontiers in Public Health. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 2296-2565. ; 12
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: The increase in adolescents reporting mental health problems presents a major public health challenge. The complex association between mental health and social capital motivates further investigation of social capital as a crucial aspect in shaping adolescents' help-seeking knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours.Aim: This protocol presents a project that aims to investigate social capital in relation to help-seeking and mental health in close collaboration with adolescents and key stakeholders in the school setting, in the southern part of Sweden.Methods: A mixed-method design with three interconnected work packages (WP) will be undertaken with an emphasis on co-production where adolescents are involved throughout the process. WP1 is a development and validation of two questionnaire instruments for assessing social capital and help-seeking in adolescence. WP2 is a longitudinal quantitative study involving 1,500 adolescents from two regions representing rural and suburban/urban settings. Adolescents aged 15 will be asked to complete questionnaires concerning social capital, mental health, and help-seeking in a baseline and one-year follow-up, allowing for investigation of the role of social capital for help-seeking. WP3 is designed to elucidate experiences and knowledge of adolescents and key stakeholders via collaborative World Café workshops. These will be held along the project to evolve the generated knowledge and maximize it's applicability during and after the project is finalized.Conclusion: The results are expected to further the understanding of the relationship between adolescents' social capital, mental health, and help-seeking, to contribute to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms behind the paradoxical help-seeking patterns among adolescents today and to narrow the gap between research and practice to produce sustainable and efficient strategies, which may facilitate help-seeking and improve the mental health of adolescents within existing organizational structures.
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| 2. |
- Häggström Westberg, Katrin, 1968-
(author)
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Exploring mental health and potential health assets in young people
- 2021
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Young people in Sweden generally claim to have a good quality of life, but also report increasing mental health problems. It is a concern that only a minority of young people seek and/or access support when encountering mental health problems as mental health is a fundamental human right and integral to a positive development in both childhood and throughout the lifespan. There are uncertainties as to how to facilitate help-seeking and promote mental health among young people and previous studies have often focused on risk-reduction. A shift from a pathological view to a resource-based perspective of mental health can be achieved by adopting a health assets’ approach. This approach also ascribes due emphasis to the fact that mental health is developed within a social context, where both individual and structural health assets, such as the support system, are of importance. With this in mind, the overall aim of this thesis was to explore individual and structural health assets in relation to the mental health of young people.This thesis is based on four studies using both quantitative (Studies I and II) and qualitative (Study III) methods as well as a scoping review method with a qualitative synthesis (Study IV). Studies I and II had a cross-sectional design and utilized data from self-reported health-related ratings collected in schools in 2011. The association between socio-economic determinants and self-rated mental health in two age groups (11-13 and 14-16) was explored in Study I, and optimism and pessimism as a bi-dimensional construct, and its impact on health-related quality of life and potential to function as a health asset was explored in Study II. In Studies III and IV, the help- seeking process was explored from the perspective of young people, firstly with constructivist grounded theory in Study III based on interviews of young people seeking help for mental health problems within a local setting, and secondly, through a scoping review examination and qualitative synthesis of national and international literature on help-seeking in Study IV.The results identified potential health assets on both individual and structural levels. The explored health assets on an individual level were socio-economic status and socio-demographic factors (Study I), dispositional optimism (Study II) and individual resources for help-seeking (Studies III and IV), while health assets on a structural level were explored through the experience of and perceptions of young people’s help-seeking process(Studies III and IV). The individual health assets of socio-economic status and migratory background were seen to affect mental health differently for boys and girls with the boys being susceptible to an accumulation of socio-economic risk factors including family wealth affecting their mental health negatively, and the mental health of the young girls with a migratory background being affected positively (Study I).The individual health asset of optimism was found to be potentially supportive for help-seeking and mental health (Study II). Young people were optimistic about their future but there was a significant decrease in optimism and health-related quality of life, and a significant increase in pessimism, with age. Optimism was independently and positively associated with a high level of health-related quality of life among young people, even when adjusting for parents’ marital status, family country background and gender. Knowledge and a desire for self-reliance were identified as potential individual health assets mainly in regard to the help-seeking process (Studies III and IV). Young people expressed how their knowledge of mental health and the support system was inadequate, rendering a feeling of insecurity, however, they also expressed a strong desire for self-reliance in regard to their mental health. Help-seeking was characterised as a dynamic and psychosocial process without sequentially fixed stages. Potential health assets on a structural level were identified as support through social networks, and a responsive, collective and accessible support system. However, young people perceived the support system as unresponsive, focused on protocol instead of person, fragmented and spread, and lacking in accessibility. The results implied that equipping young people with sufficient knowledge would capitalize on the individual health assets of self-reliance and optimism, conducive to help-seeking and mental health, but that the support system needs to improve in order to meet the particular needs of young people.
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| 3. |
- Häggström Westberg, Katrin, 1968-, et al.
(author)
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Exploring the role of optimism as a protective factor for adolescent quality of life
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Other publication (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This study attempts to understand the role that optimism could play in the context of a health asset approach to promote (and protect) adolescent health related quality of life (HRQOL). Two hypotheses were formulated, a) there is an association between adolescents’ self-rated optimism and pessimism and their HRQOL, (b) age, gender and socio-demographic characteristics influence this association. We explore optimism and pessimism as a bi-dimensional construct and its impact on HRQOL among adolescents in two age groups (11-13 years and 14-16 years). Adolescents answered a self-report questionnaire consisting of two validated scales for measuring HRQOL and the concepts of optimism and pessimism. This study has shown that optimism is an important protective factor for HRQOL and low levels of pessimism were also seen to be protective of HRQOL in both age groups. This infers the potential of an optimistic orientation about future goals might function as a health asset during adolescence that could be useful in the planning of health promotion strategies.
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| 4. |
- Häggström Westberg, Katrin, 1968-, et al.
(author)
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Lost in Space - an exploration of help-seeking among young people with mental health problems : a constructivist grounded theory study
- 2020
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In: Archives of Public Health. - Brussels : Institut Scientifique de Sante Publique / Scientific Institut of Public Health. - 0778-7367 .- 2049-3258. ; 78
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Mental health problems among young people is a worldwide public health concern. There has been an increase in mental health problems among young people in the Nordic countries in the last 25 years, particularly in Sweden. Despite this increase, international research has repeatedly shown that young people do not access or receive support when encountering mental health problems. The purpose of this study was to explore the process of help-seeking for professional support among young people with mental health problems. Methods: The study used qualitative constructivist Grounded Theory and open-ended interviews. Thirteen young people between 15 and 23, recruited from two local support clinics, were interviewed. Results: Lost in space emerged as the core category, capturing aspects of both the experience of self and mental health problems as well as the process of seeking and acquiring help from professional support systems. The study identified several prominent barriers for seeking and acquiring professional help for mental health problems. The young people expressed a lack of knowledge on mental health issues and support services and substantial efforts were made to try to cope with problems on one’s own. Lost in space involved Drifting - trying to make sense of own experiences and struggling to cope with problems, Navigating - searching for help through multiple attempts and contacts and Docking - finding support with something/somebody that feels right. Conclusions: The theoretical model sheds light on how young people with mental health problems were met with fragmented support services. Society needs to provide encompassing, youth-friendly and flexible support services, so that attempts at help-seeking are not missed. © The Author(s). 2020
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| 5. |
- Häggström Westberg, Katrin, 1968-, et al.
(author)
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Mental Health Problems among Young People—A Scoping Review of Help-Seeking
- 2022
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In: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. - Basel : MDPI. - 1661-7827 .- 1660-4601. ; 19:3
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Young people’s mental health is a public health priority, particularly as mental health problems in this group seem to be increasing. Even in countries with supposedly good access to healthcare, few young people seek support for mental health problems. The aim of this study was twofold, firstly to map the published literature on young people’s experiences of seeking help for mental health problems and secondly to validate whether the Lost in Space model was adaptable as a theoretical model of the help-seeking process described in the included articles in this scoping review. A scoping review was conducted in which we searched for literature on mental health help-seeking with a user perspective published between 2010 and 2020 in different databases. From the 2905 studies identified, we selected 12 articles for inclusion. The review showed how young people experience unfamiliarity and insecurity with regard to issues related to mental health and help-seeking. A strong wish for self-reliance and to safe-guard one’s own health were consistent among young people. Support structures were often regarded as inaccessible and unresponsive. There was a high level of conformity between the model on help-seeking and the analysed articles, reinforcing that help-seeking is a dynamic and psychosocial process. © 2022 by the authors.
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| 6. |
- Häggström Westberg, Katrin, 1968-, et al.
(author)
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Optimism as a Candidate Health Asset : Exploring Its Links with Adolescent Quality of Life in Sweden
- 2019
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In: Child Development. - Hoboken : John Wiley & Sons. - 0009-3920 .- 1467-8624. ; 90:3, s. 970-984
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This study aims to understand the role that optimism could play in the context of a health asset approach to promote adolescent health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Adolescents (n = 948), between 11 and 16 years old from a medium-sized rural town in Sweden, answered questionnaires measuring optimism, pessimism, and HRQOL. The findings indicate a significant decrease in optimism and a significant increase in pessimism between early and mid adolescence. The study has allowed us to present associational evidence of the links between optimism and HRQOL. This infers the potential of an optimistic orientation about the future to function as a health asset during adolescence and by implication may provide additional intervention tools in the planning of health promotion strategies.
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