Wirkungsnachweis aus der Literatur
NEU
improving emotions and promoting adaptive emotion regulation
psychosoziales Befinden
LYG improves emotions and promotes adaptive emotion regulation, by providing opportunities to do this interpersonally with the support of others. The group facilitates positive emotions, such as making people feel good, and making them laugh. It also offers space to talk about your feelings and generally helps young people to manage difficult emotions, through adaptive and interpersonal emotion regulation. For example, helping young people to combat anxiety in social situations: “They have helped, they have introduced me to a new set of people” (John). It was notable that young people feel more able to confront the problem and discuss it with others, both peers and staff, after attending LYG: “But now, um like, I talk to people and sort it out”. They noted “You can always go and tell them and they’d always take it as seriously as something else” (Emily). Young people also more readily talk to staff and accept their advice, noting that they can trust them; “[they] give me advice, and like they can keep it to themselves” (Charly). It was also crucial that staff understood them: “the staff at club understand you more than other people because that’s what they’re there for like, they’re there to understand you” (Emily).
Beschreibung der Aktivität
Local youth group (LYG)
LYG is an inclusive project offering after-school sessions and projects in a suburb of Birmingham. The group has high levels of attendance from children living in poverty, care, and with disabilities or mental health issues. Information about special educational needs was obtained from the group coordinator from participants’ records. Youth sessions are a mixture of free time and organized group activities, and in school holidays trips and projects are planned.
Großbritannien
13-18 years old
teilnehmende Kinder und Jugendliche
Evaluierung der Aktivität
Interview Description: Eight thirty-minute individual semi-structured interviews were conducted. Interviews used a mix of open and closed questions. The schedule aimed to investigate adolescents’ experiences and opinions on loneliness, firstly discussing loneliness in young people and then their ideas of its causes. Metaphor maps were used to facilitate discussion of how to define loneliness and causes of loneliness. Following adolescents’ unprompted responses on the map, we added ER, self-esteem and PCR in a different color pen to encourage discussion of these factors. We then gathered information about the impact of LYG for them on both their ideas of causes of loneliness, and emotion regulation, self-esteem and the PCR. Questions were asked to explore their views on what helps and hinders loneliness. We used optional filler questions about hobbies to reduce demand characteristics and facilitate discussion with those who were hesitant, and empathy cues within the text to ensure sensitivity and reduce social desirability bias, e.g. “that sounds like a difficult time”. Before ending, a verbal debrief summarized the aims and anticipated outcomes. Focus Group Description: Groups had five participants, a number deemed small enough for everyone to offer insight whilst maintaining diversity of opinion (Krueger & Casey, 2014). To begin, the participants were reminded of the information sheet and asked to sign a consent form (for children under 16, this was an assent form since parental consent was already obtained). The schedule centered on what can be done to alleviate youth loneliness within services like LYG, and how barriers can be addressed to create a wider reach. A metaphor map was used again, where participants collaboratively produced a diagram to represent their ideas. The researcher asked participants to feedback their ideas and documented these on a whiteboard to facilitate discussion, after which a debrief was offered.
14 adolescents