Leadership

• Kathryn Sabella, Ph.D. and Alicia Lucksted, Ph.D., Co-Principal Investigators
• Elizabeth Thomas, Ph.D., Eugene Brusilovskiy, M.U.S.A, and the Youth Advisory Board (YAB), Co-Investigators

Summary

Young adults with serious mental health conditions (SMHC) are interested in participating in various community activities but often face barriers such as poverty and stigma. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way people participate in their communities, with more digital/online participation. We need an updated understanding of what community participation looks like among young adults with SMHC to design interventions, systems, and policies that meet their current experiences and needs. Additionally, this study will examine how young adults with SMHC from other disadvantaged backgrounds experience community participation to reduce disparities.

Research Questions

1. How are youth and young adults with SMHC from disadvantaged backgrounds conceptualizing and experiencing community participation in the post-COVID era?
2. To what extent are youth and young adults with SMHC from disadvantaged backgrounds participating in areas that are important to them in the post-COVID era?

Research Activities

We are approaching these research activities in two phases.

1. Since there is little research on community participation among disadvantaged young adults with mental health conditions before the pandemic, and the pandemic has brought about significant changes in community participation, we will start with qualitative interviews with 40 young adults.
2. We will use the qualitative data to create a survey that will allow us to measure community participation among a larger group of young adults with mental health conditions from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Now Recruiting for the Study