Paper Title: Engaging young people in science communication about mental health during COVID-19 

Author(s) and Year: Herbers Poulsen, S., Maindal, N., Oddershede, K. D., Sejerkilde, M., Breiner Pedersen, S., Haghju, M., MacLean Sinclair, E., Harrits, A., Kirk, U. B., Sherson, J. F. and Kragh, G.; 2024. 

Journal: Journal of Science Communication 23(01), N01. https://doi.org/10.22323/2.23010801

TL;DR: Despite mental health issues affecting young people at alarming rates, young people often have no input in research and communication about mental health. This study found that including young people in discussions was valuable to opening dialogue about mental health. 

Why I chose this paper: When I had to give a lecture about stress to a class of high schoolers, I struggled to find tangible advice to give about stress management to teenagers since much of the advice and discourse was geared towards adults. Throughout the lecture, I included discussion topics and I found high schoolers had a lot of important insights. I chose this article because I think it is important to include young people in discussions of youth mental health to reduce stigma and encourage healthy coping mechanisms. 

The Background

The lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented mental health challenges, especially to young people. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 37% of high school students reported poor mental health with 44% reporting feelings of sadness and hopelessness in 2022. These rising mental health challenges call for urgent and effective science communication around mental health resources and coping strategies. 

Common science communication practices focus on the transmission/deficit models that involve experts “talking at” the public. These models ignore important factors such as culture and may not change people’s behaviors. To address this, science communicators are finding different ways to engage in a dialogue with the public.  However, it can be difficult for young people to openly communicate about their struggles for fear of judgment and being misunderstood, so it is important to understand how to discuss mental health with this community. 

So how does one engage with young people on such a sensitive topic? The researchers of this study wanted to ask the young people themselves. They noted that despite having first-hand experiences, young people are not included in the dialogue around mental health advocacy and outreach. This study attempts to demonstrate how including young people can make science communication around mental health more effective and engaging. 

The Methods

Seventy young people (17-22 years old) from the same academic program in Denmark participated in an online three-hour workshop. The goal of the workshop was to facilitate a two-way conversation about mental health and find ways to best communicate information about mental health. Before the workshops, researchers gave a presentation about mental health during COVID-19. There were then three parts to the workshop. The first part had participants play an online game called “Corona Minister.” The purpose of the game was to serve as a conversation starter about mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. After the game, participants proceeded to the second part of the workshop, in which they talked about the game and consequences of the COVID-19 lockdowns on mental health. The third part of the workshop consisted of a small group discussion led by a young facilitator about the personal mental health consequences of the lockdown. Adult researchers excluded themselves from this part of the workshop to ensure privacy and openness among participants. 

From each discussion, participants made a list of coping strategies and the best ways to disseminate this information. For data collection, facilitators wrote down observations during the workshop. Then, researchers sent questionnaires and conducted follow-up interviews. 

The Results

Participants enjoyed playing “Corona Minister” and the game opened a dialogue about pandemic mental health. The two small group discussions following the game provided a safe space for participants to communicate about their mental health challenges. Both discussions also allowed participants the space to self-reflect on their own experiences and see that they were not alone in these experiences. Participants reported feeling heard and appreciated the opportunity to give their insight on the topic. 

While the experience of talking about mental health was exciting, it also presented its challenges. The primary difficulty was trying to figure out how to make their personal experiences into general advice that could apply to others, as what works for one person may not work for someone else. They also brainstormed best practices for disseminating the information to their peers and completed a questionnaire, which included the question: “How do you think the various advice for young people is best communicated?” (see Figure 1). Overall, participants thought that videos and peer-to-peer interaction would be the best way to communicate information about mental health. 

The Impact 

Poulsen et al. demonstrated the importance and impact of including young people in the discussion of their mental health. The researchers emphasized a need for more active and engaging conversations with young people. Researchers recommended using conversation starters, making a social setting for conversations, using young people as facilitators, co-creating activities, involving diverse participants, using entertaining visuals, and incorporating extra time to ensure participation. While this was a step in the right direction, there were still challenges and improvements needed to fully incorporate a more active model of science communication since the active model can be more time-intensive compared to the deficit/transmission model. 

As science communicators, we must engage in dialogue with different communities – especially if these communities are the target of the information. By having active involvement, the target audience can be heard and empowered. This study is one example of how including members of a target audience can create innovative and successful science communication.

Sources

https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/p0331-youth-mental-health-covid-19.html

Written by Julianna Goenaga

Edited by Clark Hickman and Madeline Fisher

Featured image credit: Photo by Marcel Strauß on Unsplash