Adolescents' mental health, coping strategies, social support and interventions: a qualitative study in Switzerland

IF 0.8 Q3 SOCIAL SCIENCES, INTERDISCIPLINARY

Qualitative Research Journal Pub Date : 2023-05-04 DOI:10.1108/qrj-10-2022-0135

L. Chok, J. Suris, Y. Barrense-Dias

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

PurposeAdolescence is an important life stage including physical, emotional and social changes that make adolescents vulnerable to mental health issues. To face these emotional and behavioral problems, adolescents may use various coping strategies. This exploratory qualitative study aimed to better understand the coping strategies when adolescents face mental health difficulties, the reasons why some adolescents find it difficult to seek social support and/or professional care and which interventions they would find efficient to improve adolescents' mental health.Design/methodology/approachThe study included 28 participants aged between 12–19 years old. Four online focus groups (FGs) separated by gender and age were performed between March and April 2021, during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland.FindingsThe results show that several strategies put forward by participants did not include talking about their problems with others. Reducing the stigma and taking the adolescents' mental health seriously would make it easier for adolescents to talk about their problems to other people. Overall, participants considered that doing leisure-time activities and going out with friends were the best way to reduce stressful situations and mental health problems. For all aspects of health, including the mental one, it is important that policies promote the access to sports and arts activities for all the adolescents.Originality/valueThis study explored adolescents' coping strategies and their opinions on intervention for dealing with potential mental health problems, an issue that is still taboo for some adolescents.

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青少年的心理健康、应对策略、社会支持和干预：瑞士的一项定性研究

目的青春期是一个重要的人生阶段，包括身体、情感和社会的变化，这些变化使青少年容易受到心理健康问题的影响。面对这些情绪和行为问题，青少年可能会使用各种应对策略。这项探索性的定性研究旨在更好地了解青少年面临心理健康困难时的应对策略，一些青少年难以寻求社会支持和/或专业护理的原因，以及他们认为哪些干预措施能有效改善青少年的心理健康。设计/方法/方法该研究包括28名年龄在12-19岁之间的参与者。2021年3月至4月，在瑞士第三波新冠肺炎疫情期间，进行了四个按性别和年龄划分的在线焦点小组（FGs）。结果显示，参与者提出的几种策略不包括与他人谈论他们的问题。减少耻辱感并认真对待青少年的心理健康将使青少年更容易与他人谈论他们的问题。总的来说，参与者认为进行休闲活动和与朋友外出是减少压力和心理健康问题的最佳方式。对于健康的各个方面，包括心理健康，重要的是政策要促进所有青少年参加体育和艺术活动。原创性/价值本研究探讨了青少年的应对策略以及他们对处理潜在心理健康问题的干预意见，这一问题对一些青少年来说仍然是禁忌。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Qualitative Research Journal SOCIAL SCIENCES, INTERDISCIPLINARY-

CiteScore

2.40

自引率

8.30%

发文量

期刊介绍： Qualitative Research Journal (QRJ) is an international journal devoted to the communication of the theory and practice of qualitative research in the human sciences. It is interdisciplinary and eclectic, covering all methodologies that can be described as qualitative. It offers an international forum for researchers and practitioners to advance knowledge and promote good qualitative research practices. QRJ deals comprehensively with the collection, analysis and presentation of qualitative data in the human sciences as well as theoretical and conceptual inquiry.