Exploring the potential of technology-based mental health services for homeless youth: A qualitative study.
Open accessAbstract
Homelessness has serious consequences for youth that heighten the need for mental health services; however, these individuals face significant barriers to access. New models of intervention delivery are required to improve the dissemination of mental health interventions that tailor these services to the unique challenges faced by homeless youth. The purpose of this study was to better understand homeless youths' use of technology, mental health experiences and needs, and willingness to engage with technology-supported mental health interventions to help guide the development of future youth-facing technology-supported interventions. Five focus groups were conducted with 24 homeless youth (62.5% female) in an urban shelter. Youth were 18- to 20-years-old with current periods of homelessness ranging from 6 days to 4 years. Transcripts of these focus groups were coded to identify themes. Homeless youth reported using mobile phones frequently for communication, music, and social media. They indicated a lack of trust and a history of poor relationships with mental health providers despite recognizing the need for general support as well as help for specific mental health problems. Although initial feelings toward technology that share information with a provider were mixed, they reported an acceptance of tracking and sharing information under certain circumstances. Based on these results, we provide recommendations for the development of mental health interventions for this population focusing on technology-based treatment options. (PsycINFO Database Record
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Interventions that are used in a relatively small setting may give a false sense of anonymity if it is possible for users to find out who else is using the intervention, for example, through content shared within the intervention or by seeing someone use it.
“Interventions that are used in a relatively small setting may give a false sense of anonymity if it is possible for users to find out who else is using the intervention, for example, through content shared within the intervention or by seeing someone use it [108], which is important to consider for intimate settings, such as schools, workplaces, or small communities.”
From Barriers to and facilitators of user engagement with digital mental health interventions: Systematic review (2021) · cites this paper as [108]
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References 37 · Cited by 52
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Karabanow J Naylor TD Looker ED Naylor TD 2010 “Being hooked up”: Exploring the experiences of street youth and information technologies Digital diversity: Youth, equity, and information technology 161 178 Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Wilfrid Laurier University Press
- Authors
- Adkins, E. C., Zalta, A. K., Boley, R. A., Glover, A., Karnik, N. S., & Schueller, S. M.
- Affiliations
- Northwestern University (US)
- Rush University Medical Center (US)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Psychological Services
- Published
- 2017-05
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 238-245
- ISSN
- 1541-1559 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-148X
- PMC
- PMC5540313
- OpenAlex
- W2612015182
- Cited by
- 52
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 7.09
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Psychological Services (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (K08 MH102336, K23 MH103394)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Homelessness and Social Issues
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Telemedicine and Telehealth Implementation
- Keywords
- homeless youth, mobile phone use, technology acceptance, urban shelter
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Female, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Mental Health Services, Focus Groups, Homeless Youth, Qualitative Research, Young Adult, Social Media, Mobile Applications
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