Finding community and contesting heteronormativity: queer young people's engagement in an Australian online community

Hanckel, Benjamin; Morris, Alan

doi:10.1080/13676261.2013.878792

Cited by 60 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Many used the forums as a distraction, a place to socialise, and this helped improve their mood. They also stated that they found it valuable to talk about issues in this space that they were not able to discuss with people offline, finding the online environment an easier place to talk than equivalent face-to-face services, which has been found in previous studies (Johnsen et al, 2002;Trondsen & Tjora, 2014;Ravert et al, 2015;Hanckel & Morris, 2014). Further, there are also indications that individuals may also self-disclose more in these settings, again supporting findings from previous studies conducted in the USA and UK (Kummervold et al, 2002;Walther & Boyd, 2002;.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 76%

“…Moderated online mental health forums are often viewed positively by young people and provide them with a confidential and safe environment to seek support (King et al, 2006;Webb, Burns, & Collin, 2008). The online environment often facilitates increased self-disclosure (Richards 2009;Kummervold et al, 2002;Walther & Boyd, 2002) with less inhibition (Suler, 2004;, allowing young people to disclose and discuss issues they may feel embarrassed to discuss in a face-to-face setting (Johnsen et al, 2002;Hanley, 2011;Trondsen & Tjora, 2014;Ravert, Boren, & Wiebke, 2015;Hanckel & Morris, 2014;Sherman & Greenfield, 2013). This is particularly pertinent to mental health issues due to the stigma often associated with such issues (Turner et al, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Why do young people use online forums for mental health and emotional support? Benefits and challenges

Prescott

Hanley

Gomez

2019

British Journal of Guidance & Counselling

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A qualitative approach was used to explore young people's experiences of using synchronous and asynchronous online forums to gain insight into the use of online services for mental health. Nineteen young people took part in two online synchronous focus groups facilitated by the online counselling service, KOOTH.com, to reflect upon the use of these two types of forum. Inductive thematic analysis indicated that forums do not replace the role of a counsellor, but they provide a valuable place for young people to gain additional, lower level support requirements. Individuals suggested the forums were supportive environments where they felt able to interact to share helpful advice and ask questions, making them feel less alone and more connected to others. Issues of concern tended to be around the affordances of the site and technical issues.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 76%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why do young people use online forums for mental health and emotional support? Benefits and challenges

Prescott

Hanley

Gomez

2019

British Journal of Guidance & Counselling

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“…It is evident that online support groups can support and empower young people, help them develop new friendships, share personal experiences, communicate with others who understand, provide information and emotional support, and most importantly help them feel less alone and normal. Often online communities develop for young people who do not feel supported in the offline world or they may want to discuss issues they feel embarrassed to share with their offline friends due to risk of stigma or embarrassment [ 23 , 28 , 36 , 37 ]. It is, therefore, important to understand online mental health forums for young people with a variety of concerns and needs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peer Communication in Online Mental Health Forums for Young People: Directional and Nondirectional Support

Prescott¹,

Hanley²,

Ujhelyi³

2017

JMIR Ment Health

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BackgroundThe Internet has the potential to help young people by reducing the stigma associated with mental health and enabling young people to access services and professionals which they may not otherwise access. Online support can empower young people, help them develop new online friendships, share personal experiences, communicate with others who understand, provide information and emotional support, and most importantly help them feel less alone and normalize their experiences in the world.ObjectiveThe aim of the research was to gain an understanding of how young people use an online forum for emotional and mental health issues. Specifically, the project examined what young people discuss and how they seek support on the forum (objective 1). Furthermore, it looked at how the young service users responded to posts to gain an understanding of how young people provided each other with peer-to-peer support (objective 2).MethodsKooth is an online counseling service for young people aged 11-25 years and experiencing emotional and mental health problems. It is based in the United Kingdom and provides support that is anonymous, confidential, and free at the point of delivery. Kooth provided the researchers with all the online forum posts between a 2-year period, which resulted in a dataset of 622 initial posts and 3657 initial posts with responses. Thematic analysis was employed to elicit key themes from the dataset.ResultsThe findings support the literature that online forums provide young people with both informational and emotional support around a wide array of topics. The findings from this large dataset also reveal that this informational or emotional support can be viewed as directive or nondirective. The nondirective approach refers to when young people provide others with support by sharing their own experiences. These posts do not include explicit advice to act in a particular way, but the sharing process is hoped to be of use to the poster. The directive approach, in contrast, involves individuals making an explicit suggestion of what they believe the poster should do.ConclusionsThis study adds to the research exploring what young people discuss within online forums and provides insights into how these communications take place. Furthermore, it highlights the challenge that organizations may encounter in mediating support that is multidimensional in nature (informational-emotional, directive-nondirective).

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“…Of the 58 research articles identified in the review, only three [ 35 , 37 , 82 ] described following internet-specific ethical guidelines when designing or undertaking their online research: these included professional guidelines produced by the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) [ 83 ] and the American Psychological Association (APA) [ 84 ], and practical guidance offered in academic literature [ 71 , 85 ]. Some articles [ 20 , 42 , 54 , 65 , 86 ] reported consulting ethical guidelines produced by their institutional review board [ 56 ], country of origin (e.g., National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research [ 27 ], Belmont Report [ 87 ]) or the World Medical Association [ 88 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethical issues in using the internet to engage participants in family and child research: A scoping review

et al. 2018

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BackgroundThe internet is an increasingly popular tool in family and child research that is argued to pose new ethical challenges, yet few studies have systematically assessed the ethical issues of engaging parents and children in research online. This scoping review aims to identify and integrate evidence on the ethical issues reported when recruiting, retaining and tracing families and children in research online, and to identify ethical guidelines for internet research.MethodsAcademic literature was searched using electronic academic databases (Scopus, PsycINFO, Embase, ERIC, CINAHL and Informit) and handsearching reference lists for articles published in English between January 2006 and February 2016. Grey literature was searched using Google to identify relevant ethical guidelines.ResultsSixty-five academic articles were included after screening 3,537 titles and abstracts and 205 full-text articles. Most articles reported using the internet to recruit participants (88%) with few reporting online retention (12%) or tracing (10%). Forty percent commented on ethical issues; the majority did not discuss ethics beyond general consent or approval procedures. Some ethical concerns were specific to engaging minors online, including parental consent, age verification and children’s vulnerability. Other concerns applied when engaging any research participant online, including privacy and confidentiality, informed consent and disparities in internet access. Five professional guidelines and 10 university guidelines on internet research ethics were identified. Few academic articles (5%) reported using these guidelines.ConclusionsEngaging families and children in research online introduces unique challenges requiring careful consideration. While researchers regarded themselves as responsible for ensuring research is conducted ethically, lack of use of available guidelines and limited academic literature suggests internet research is occurring without suitable guidance. We recommend broad dissemination of ethical guidelines and encourage researchers to report the methodological and ethical issues of using the internet to engage families and children in research.

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Finding community and contesting heteronormativity: queer young people's engagement in an Australian online community

Cited by 60 publications

References 26 publications

Why do young people use online forums for mental health and emotional support? Benefits and challenges

Why do young people use online forums for mental health and emotional support? Benefits and challenges

Peer Communication in Online Mental Health Forums for Young People: Directional and Nondirectional Support

Ethical issues in using the internet to engage participants in family and child research: A scoping review

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