Emerging Adults’ Evaluation of Their Treatment in an Outpatient Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate emerging adults’ (EAs) perspectives of treatment from an outpatient program specializing in mood and anxiety disorders for EAs. A sample of 22 participants between the ages of 18 and 27 participated in semistructured interviews at least 19 months after the start of treatment. A thematic analysis was conducted on the transcripts of these interviews based on the procedure outlined in Braun and Clarke. A description of the analysis and themes was presented to a subset of participants to evaluate authenticity and credibility of the researchers’ interpretations. Participants reported lasting improvements in symptom reduction and functioning, which were accompanied by self-acceptance and feeling empowered to actively affect change in their life. They also viewed treatment as an investment in their mental health and well-being. These results reveal characteristics of intervention strategies valued by EAs that can contribute to long-term improvements.

Languishing: Experiences of emerging adults in outpatient mental health care one year into the COVID-19 pandemic

“…FEMAP patients had minimal engagement with mental health treatment prior to their enrollment. The program, its patients, and related outcomes, are described elsewhere (Arcaro et al, 2017;Arcaro et al, 2019;Armstrong et al, 2019;Summerhurst et al, 2017;Summerhurst et al, 2018). We developed a system for monitoring symptoms and functioning of patients during initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic mandatory closures (Osuch et al, 2022), and conducted a previous qualitative analysis regarding patients' responses to the first wave of the pandemic (Wammes et al, 2022).…”

Achieving Adulthood: Associations between Family Obligation and Emerging Adulthood among Chinese Americans

“…Traditional research has focused on areas such as financial independence (Padilla-Walker et al, 2012;Serido et al, 2010;Terriquez & Gurantz, 2015), residency status (Padilla-Walker et al, 2012;Serido et al, 2010), and relationships (Collins & van Dulmen, 2006;Shulman & Connolly, 2013) that complimented Arnett's original theoretical framework (Arnett, 2004). Other researchers have examined other areas such as mental well-being (Arcaro et al, 2019;Parker et al, 2019) and risky behaviors (Pharo et al, 2011;Ravert et al, 2009). Nonetheless, the research done on emerging adults spreads far and vast in an attempt to uncover what it really means to be an emerging adult (for full review, see Swanson, 2016).…”