Engaging Young People as Co-researchers in Mental Health Research during the COVID-19 Crisis: Ethical and Practical Reflections

Poster presented at the Citizen Science 4 Health Conference 2023 based on the 'Giving Young People a Voice' project, run by Aarhus University and partners in Denmark.

Abstract

Engaging young people as co-researchers in mental health research holds great promise for both youth and research outcomes. However, there is a limited amount of literature and evidence on the value creation, impact, and challenges associated with this approach.  

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we initiated a collaboration with five young non-scientists (aged 18-20) as co-researchers. Our objectives were to gain a comprehensive understanding of young people's mental health and co-create targeted communication materials, and secondly, to explore the benefits of a co-researcher collaboration for both young individuals and the research project. We examined the involvement of co-researchers in planning, data collection, analysis, and presentation of results. The evaluation of the co-researcher collaboration involved interviews with the co-researchers, an evaluation workshop, and a questionnaire completed by the researchers. The results showed that the collaboration brought valuable insights and perspectives, and involving co-researchers proved effective in engaging young people. However, the collaboration also showed a need for careful implementation, clear communication, mutual understanding, and recognizing co-researchers' competencies are crucial. Our experience showed that young non-scientific co-researchers can significantly contribute to mental health research by providing unique perspectives and empowering young people.