This qualitative study examined student, parent, and teacher responses to disclosure of mental illness experiences by middle- and high school... Show moreThis qualitative study examined student, parent, and teacher responses to disclosure of mental illness experiences by middle- and high school-aged youth. Results will be used to guide programming designed to help youth with mental illness facilitate disclosure decisions, as well as to assist their peers, parents, and teachers in creating effective support systems. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) directed this study; CBPR teams formed from relevant stakeholders: middle- and high school-aged youth (with and without mental illness), parents, teachers, and other youth leaders created the focus group interview guide. Nineteen focus groups were completed with 103 participants, with six homogeneous groups; four were youth divided into high school and middle school cohorts with and without experience with mental illness, parents of youth with mental illness, and teachers. Themes were generated from verbatim transcripts using a grounded theory approach. Independent raters open coded responses and crafted a framework to organize responses based on response type. A summary of themes and concepts was provided to the CBPR teams for feedback, yielding the final set of themes. Positive responses were grouped into: Listening/Response Characteristics, Personality/Response Characteristics, Support/Solidarity, Acceptance, Confidentiality, Problem-Solving, Strategies to Create Openness, Asking for Help, Child Independence/Disclosure, Self-Disclosure, and Understanding. Negative responses were grouped into: Response Characteristics, Misperceptions/Misattributions, Harmful Behaviors, Disregard, Topic Avoidance, and Judgment/Blame/Punishment. Supportive and unsupportive responses varied among groups; however, negative responses to disclosure were scarcer than positive responses, suggesting a more positive environment for mental health discussions. Recommendations to aid in the effective support of youth who disclose their mental illness are provided. M.S. in Psychology, December 2014 Show less
