ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Digital mental health interventions comprise a potentially effective and accessible form of support for young people, particularly at times when traditional face-to-face service delivery is reduced, as in the COVID-19 pandemic. AIMS: This study assessed the demographic profile of young people using a digital mental health support service and evaluated outcome change over the course of a structured online counselling intervention (synchronous text-chat sessions with a practitioner). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The data were collected from 23,260 young people aged between 10 and 25 years engaging with the intervention between April 2019 and June 2021. RESULTS: Young people accessing these services had high levels of mental health needs, particularly those identifying with non-binary gender identity. Service users were mostly female, with equitable rates of access for young people from racialised communities. Overall outcome change demonstrated small effect sizes according to the YP-CORE (0.19) and CORE-10 (0.38), which increased to a moderate level when young people remained engaged with a dedicated practitioner for at least seven sessions (0.38, 0.58). Regression analysis illustrated the effect of the number of sessions on outcome change, but this can be also influenced by other variables such as age and gender. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Further research is required to explore ways to engage with young people using digital web-based services for a longer period and to collect and analyse single-session outcome data.
ABSTRACT
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have disproportionately affected young people, and those who are vulnerable are disadvantaged further. Here, we seek to understand the experiences of vulnerable young people accessing Web-based therapeutic support during the pandemic and early lockdown, as revealed through the observations of mental health professionals. Methods: Four focus groups with 12 professionals from a digital mental health service were conducted to understand the experiences of vulnerable young people during the pandemic lockdown. Workshops with young people with diverse experiences resulted in the co-design of the focus group topic guide and the interpretation and validation of analysis. The experiential inductive-deductive framework of thematic analysis was used to analyse the workshop transcripts. Results: Four main themes and subsequent subthemes were identified: escalation of risk; the experience and consequence of loss; feeling supported and empowered; and feeling separate and isolated. Conclusions: Findings reflect early data that suggest that those with existing vulnerability face an increased risk of poor outcomes through the pandemic and the restrictions of lockdown, but evidence is also provided of positive outcomes from lockdown and its function as a catalyst for change. Results reinforce the need for focused support for vulnerable young people as we emerge from lockdown, and point to supportive and protective factors of relevance to online and offline support provision.