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Substance Use and Mental Health among Young Adults

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Mental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 September 2021) | Viewed by 9830

Special Issue Editors

WellFare: Nordic Research Centre for Wellbeing and Social Sustainability, Department of Education and Lifelong Learning, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Noway
Interests: wellbeing; recovery; mental health; substance abuse; citizenship; relational welfare; social justice
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Centre for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, University of South-Eastern Norway, 3679 Notodden, Norway
Interests: recovery; relational recovery; recovery oriented services; citizenship and human rights; survivor research; participatory action
Centre for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, University of South-Eastern Norway, 3679 Notodden, Norway
Interests: hope; relational hope; living conditions and recovery; substance (ab)use; mental health

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

There is an increasing number of young adults struggling with substance use and mental health problems and all their implications. In this call, we use the concept “substance use problems,” being aware that peer communities disagree with the term “abuse.” What we deem ‘abusive’ is a judgement on someone else’s behaviour. For many, these experiences begin as a response to inequality, exclusion, and trauma, and it is well known that young people who struggle with mental health or substance use problems experience further social exclusion from communities, education, work, and relationships. In this sense, young people can become doubly marginalized, through the experiences that caused them to begin using substances or experience mental health problems, and through the experiences of living with mental health and substance use problems. This ongoing marginalization ultimately isolates young people from the communities that they should be a part of, affecting their experiences of citizenship, and their ability to access the same rights and services as their peers.

This call aims to advance our understanding of the processes of recovery and concepts of citizenship and well-being for young people who live with substance use and mental health problems. We invite articles from different perspectives, across a wide range of topics on recovery and citizenship that explore, and address inclusion, exclusion, equity, and inequities faced by young people with substance use and mental health problems. We welcome articles which explore how services, policies, and communities can work together alongside young people to facilitate their recovery, citizenship, and well-being. The lived experience of young people is a vital means for us to advance our understanding of the issues they face, and so we particularly welcome articles from young adult service users, family members, and practitioners. We invite research that uses survivor/collaborative methodologies.

Prof. Dr. Ottar Ness
Prof. Dr. Marit Borg
Dr. Emma Watson
Dr. Knut Tore Sælør
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • mental health
  • substance abuse
  • substance use
  • young adults
  • children and young people
  • recovery
  • citizenship
  • well-being
  • inequalities
  • social justice
  • lived experience

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 319 KiB  
Article
Bridge over Troubled Water: Patients’ Opportunities for Collective Participation in Substance Use Institutions through Research Circles
by Brit-Marie Follevåg and Sissel Seim
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(21), 11060; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph182111060 - 21 Oct 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1304
Abstract
This study explores patients’ opportunities for collective participation in an institution for people with substance use disorder. Patients and staff from the treatment institution cooperated with researchers to make changes in the treatment practice, using a research circle as a model for the [...] Read more.
This study explores patients’ opportunities for collective participation in an institution for people with substance use disorder. Patients and staff from the treatment institution cooperated with researchers to make changes in the treatment practice, using a research circle as a model for the project. In the article, we discuss the following research questions: How and in what areas did patients have the opportunity to participate collectively in the treatment institution? How did the patients experience participation in the research circle? Data consist of minutes from meetings, seminars, and focus-group interviews. The participants analysed the material together, and the authors carried out a thematic analysis after the project. The participants chose to explore how milieu therapy could build a bridge from treatment in the institution to life after treatment, a “Bridge over troubled waters”, to quote Simon and Garfunkel. Findings show that activities in the research circle led to changes at the institution, e.g., regular Sunday afternoon meetings, a weekly quiz, and less controlling procedures of substance use, and that the institutional culture in general became based more on participation and equality. Patients, staff, and researchers participated in a partnership; mutual recognition promoted cooperation and fellowship in the research circle. We conclude that the project provided the participants with opportunities for collective participation in the institution. In addition, the patients experienced partnership and empowerment in the research circle. Our attempts to change institutional practices yielded some improvements but also met with structural and cultural barriers. Thus, the project experienced challenges and obstacles mostly related to limitations in the institutional system and culture. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Substance Use and Mental Health among Young Adults)

Review

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22 pages, 3666 KiB  
Review
Co-Production within Child and Adolescent Mental Health: A Systematic Review
by Michael John Norton
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(22), 11897; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph182211897 - 12 Nov 2021
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3791
Abstract
Background: Mental health services are currently experiencing much systemic and organisational change. Many countries have adopted a recovery approach to service provision through the development of national policies and frameworks. Within an Irish context, co-production has been identified as one of the four [...] Read more.
Background: Mental health services are currently experiencing much systemic and organisational change. Many countries have adopted a recovery approach to service provision through the development of national policies and frameworks. Within an Irish context, co-production has been identified as one of the four pillars required for services to become recovery orientated. However, there is a paucity of literature relating to the concept within child and adolescent mental health services. This paper aims to synthesise the peer-reviewed evidence on co-production within such services. Methods: A PRISMA compliant systematic review was undertaken. This includes how the reviewer retrieved, shortlisted, and selected studies for inclusion in the review. It outlines the inclusion/exclusion criteria and how these were further developed through the PICO framework. Finally, the methods also outline how the reviewer assessed bias and quality, as well as the process of data synthesis. Results: Two studies were included in this review, both focusing on co-production, but in different contexts within child and adolescent mental health. Two themes were identified: ‘road less travelled’ and ‘co-producing equality’. These themes and the associated sub-themes describe how co-production works in these services. Discussion: These results highlight the paucity of quality literature in co-production within child and adolescent mental health. Both studies scored poorly in terms of quality. Resulting from this review, a number of actions relating to the therapeutic environment need to be taken into account for co-production to be further implemented. Other: The reviewer has not received any funding for this paper. A protocol was not created or registered for this review. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Substance Use and Mental Health among Young Adults)
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16 pages, 739 KiB  
Review
How People with Lived Experiences of Substance Use Understand and Experience User Involvement in Substance Use Care: A Synthesis of Qualitative Studies
by Lillian Bruland Selseng, Brit-Marie Follevåg and Håvard Aaslund
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(19), 10219; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph181910219 - 28 Sep 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2730
Abstract
There is a need for more knowledge on how people with substance use problems (SUPs) understand and experience user involvement when receiving care. In this systematic review, we identify and reanalyse the existing qualitative research that explores how people with lived experiences of [...] Read more.
There is a need for more knowledge on how people with substance use problems (SUPs) understand and experience user involvement when receiving care. In this systematic review, we identify and reanalyse the existing qualitative research that explores how people with lived experiences of substance use understand user involvement, and their experiences of key practices for achieving user involvement. We systematically searched seven electronic databases. We applied Noblit and Hare’s meta-ethnography, revised by Malterud, to identify, translate, and summarise the studies. The electronic search resulted in 2065 articles. We conducted a full-text evaluation of 63 articles, of which 12 articles met the inclusion criteria. The primary studies’ synthesis reveals three different understandings of user involvement: user involvement as joint meaning production, points of view represented, and user representation in welfare services. Key practices for achieving user involvement involved seeing and respecting the service user as a unique person, the quality of the interactional process, and the scope of action for people with SUPs, as well as professionals, including issues of stigma, power, and fatalism. The metasynthesis recognises the ambiguity of the concept of user involvement concept and the importance of including the service user’s perspective when defining user involvement. The analysis of key practices emphasises the importance of relational processes and contextual aspects when developing user involvement concepts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Substance Use and Mental Health among Young Adults)
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