Abstract
Although youth participation is oft-acknowledged as underpinning mental health policy and service reform, little robust evidence exists about the participation of children and youth in mental health policymaking. A scoping review based on Arksey and O’Malley’s framework was conducted to identify and synthesize available information on children and youth’s participation in mental health policymaking. Published studies up to November 30, 2020 were searched in Medline (OVID), PsycINFO (OVID), Scopus, and Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (PROQUEST). Further studies were identified through Google Scholar and a grey literature search was conducted using Google and targeted web searches from October to December, 2020. Three reviewers performed screening and data extraction relevant to the review objective, followed by an online consultation. From 2,981 records, 25 publications were included. A lack of diversity among the youth involved was found. Youth were often involved in situational analysis and policy design, but seldom in policy implementation and evaluation. Both the facilitators of and barriers to participation were multifaceted and interconnected. Despite a range of expected outcomes of participation for youth, adults, organizations, and communities, perceived and actual effects were neither substantially explored nor reported. Our recommendations for mental health policymaking highlight the inclusion of children and youth from diverse groups, and the creation of relational spaces that ensure safety, inclusiveness, and diversity. Identified future research directions are: the outcomes of youth participation in mental health policymaking, the role of adults, and more generally, how the mental health of children and youth shapes and is shaped by the policymaking process.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the ListenUp! initiative, particularly Alayne Adams, Jennifer Proudfoot, and Jura Augustinavicius, for their support throughout this study. We also acknowledge the helpful comments, resources, and/or assistance with recruitment provided by Christian Whalen from New Brunswick Child & Youth Advocate; Michaela Harley, Shauna MacEachern, and Jimmy Tan from Frayme; Mercy Mkandawire from International Association for Youth Mental Health; Annie Smith and Katie Horton from the McCreary Centre Society; Leslie Snider and Victor Ugo from the MHPSS Collaborative; Vivien Browne from Orygen; TRIUMPH; and Zeinab Hijazi from UNICEF New York.
Funding
This review was funded by the Ford Foundation (Grant No. 137483 to Dr. Alayne Mary Adams) and the Sherpa University Institute. The funders had no role in the design of this study or any role during its execution, analyses, interpretation of the data, or decision to submit results.
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MRC, NB, EKMT, and SNI contributed to the study conception and design. The main search was conducted by TC. Study selection, data extraction, and data synthesis were initially performed by AH, PM, and SY. NB and MRC assisted in finalizing selection and extraction results. Consultations were performed by MRC, JT, and SY. The first draft of the manuscript was written by SY, and all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. We used Arksey & O’Malley’s (2005) methodological framework for our scoping review.
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Yamaguchi, S., Bentayeb, N., Holtom, A. et al. Participation of Children and Youth in Mental Health Policymaking: A Scoping Review [Part I]. Adm Policy Ment Health 50, 58–83 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-022-01223-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-022-01223-0