Rewriting stories of trauma through peer‐to‐peer mentoring for and by at‐risk young people

Abstract

Adverse childhood experiences are strongly associated with the development of mental health disorders during the life span. When mental health issues are not effectively dealt with during the adolescent period, young people can become long‐term consumers in the mental health system. A widely accepted method of intervention is the provision of mentoring. More recently, young people have been fulfilling the role of mentor to their peers and mentoring has played a large role in supporting young people who are considered at‐risk of not achieving the expected psychosocial, educational, and/or developmental goals. What is not known is why young people, previously identified as being at‐risk, are motivated to mentor their at‐risk peers. The study aim was to examine what motivates previously recognized at‐risk young people to provide mentoring to their at‐risk peers. Participants were twelve previously recognized at‐risk young people recruited through a formal peer‐to‐peer mentoring programme. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted, and the data analysed through narrative inquiry and reported in accordance with the consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research guidelines (COREQ). Results indicate that young people are motivated by their own lived experiences of trauma(s) to provide at‐risk peer mentoring. The experience of mentoring afforded opportunities to rewrite individual personal journeys of trauma through mentoring their at‐risk peers, thus constructing a more positive self‐identity. Outcomes of developing positive peer relationships and prosocial behaviours could significantly assist mental health clinicians in providing more acceptable care to clients in an age group known to be reluctant to accept traditional mental health intervention.

Knowledge and attitudes of mental health professionals and students regarding recovery: A systematic review

“…More specifically, the majority of the professionals and students who participated in both the intervention and nonintervention studies acknowledged the importance of defining consumers' identity and availability of peer support as well as clarifying the roles and responsibilities among consumers, carers, and professionals during the recovery journey. Consistently, previous studies have also identified the importance of peer support, peer support workers, and consumers' involvement in the recovery process (Douglas et al , 2019; Slade, 2009), which may influence the effectiveness of services and support the implementation of recovery‐focused services. It is apparent that the improved knowledge regarding the recovery concept could be ascribed to education, in‐service training, and recovery interventions at workplaces.…”

What mental health nurses have to say about themselves: A discourse analysis

“…When nurses were not mentioned at all, relevance for practice (a required heading in all article types) was typically framed as broad recommendations, as illustrated by Douglas et al . (2019, p. 753) who proposed that peer mentors could assist ‘… mental health professionals to overcome the obstacles of fostering therapeutic relationships with young clients…’.…”

“…The term nurse appeared to be used as a synonym for MHN in 34% (n = 39) of papers (where MHNs were not mentioned at all). Almost all of these papers employed generic terms for health professionals such as 'mental health clinicians' (Douglas et al 2019), 'those working in mental health' (McGarry 2019), 'health professionals' (Juntanamalaga et al, 2019), or 'staff' (Olausson et al, 2019) even if the professionals most likely being referred to were nurses. These papers often did have a nurse as an author, but nurses were rarely foregrounded as having particular interests beyond those of all other health professionals.…”

A series of realist evaluations of multi-component programmes with disengaged young people: What works, for whom, and in what contexts?

“…The formation of positive peer relationships during TACKLE provided students with support and encouragement that promoted more effective coping strategies and resources. In particular, corresponding with previous literature (Douglas, Jackson, Woods, & Usher, 2019), through sharing adversity and challenges with their peers, the participants were able to understand and make sense of aspects of their lives, develop empathy and an appreciation of one another's challenges, and re-shape how they seen their own individual experiences. These findings are important as positive and supportive peer relationships have the potential to compensate for neglectful, unstable, or harsh parenting and have been considered a protective factor for disengaged students (Lansford, Criss, Pettit, Dodge, & Bates, 2003).…”

“…For instance, while receiving social support from peers is advantageous, providing social support and encouragement to peers may enhance psychological outcomes, by reducing distress and the stress response (Eisenberger, 2013). Taken together, these findings add to accumulating research that suggests programmes should provide opportunities for students to interact and connect with their peers in order to develop and expand social support networks, and to protect against the negative effect of early life adversity (Douglas et al, 2019;McGrath & Noble, 2010;McLafferty et al, 2018).…”