Exploring experiences of mental health challenges in under-represented young people (aged 16–24 years) in England: a narrative inquiry protocol

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Syed Sheriff, R., Arday, J., Shankar, R., Mooney, R., Chandler, L., Adams, H., Nagy, L. Z., Farrell, R., Fancourt, D., Weich, S., Henderson, C., Hassan, S., Langley, J., & Bhui, K. (2025). Exploring experiences of mental health challenges in under-represented young people (aged 16–24 years) in England: a narrative inquiry protocol. BMJ Open, 15(11), e098223. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2024-098223

Publication date: 1 Nov 2025 Added to AutiHub: 22 Aug 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
14
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 14 (7.1%)
  1. Rebecca Syed Sheriff
  2. Jason Arday *
  3. Rohit Shankar
  4. Roisin Mooney
  5. Louise Chandler
  1. Helen Adams
  2. Lili Z Nagy
  3. Roger Farrell
  4. Daisy Fancourt
  5. Scott Weich
  1. Catherine Henderson
  2. Shaima Hassan
  3. Joe Langley
  4. Kamaldeep Bhui

Abstract

Introduction Three-quarters of mental health problems start before the age of 25. However, young people are the least likely to receive mental healthcare. Some young people (such as those from ethnic minorities) are even less likely to receive mental healthcare than others. Long-term impacts of mental health problems include poorer physical health, relationships, education and employment. We aim to elicit the views, experiences and needs of diverse young people (aged 16–24 years), to better understand (1) their experiences of under-representation, mental health and coping, (2) mechanisms that shape mental health trajectories and (3) how online arts and culture might be made engaging and useful for young people’s mental health. We also aim to do this with autistic young people. Methods and analysis Narrative inquiry will be employed as a tool for gathering young people’s perspectives for an iterative analysis. The narrative method proposes that critical insights and knowledge are distributed across social systems and can be discovered in personal stories and that knowledge can be relayed, stored and retrieved through these stories. Data will be transcribed and explored using a combination of thematic and intersectional analysis. Young people will be core members of the research team, shape the research and be involved in the coding of data and interpretation of the findings. Ethics and dissemination This study (IRAS project ID 340259) has received ethical approval from the HRA and Health and Care Research Wales (REC reference 24/SC/0083). The outputs will identify touch points and refine the logic model of how online arts and culture might support the mental health of those from under-represented backgrounds. We will share knowledge with young people, policy makers, health professionals, carers, teachers, social workers and people who work in arts and culture. We will produce research papers, blogs, newsletters, webinars, videos and podcasts.

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Cited references
45
With a DOI
38
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
7
1 / 45 (2.2%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
5 / 45 (11.1%)
References with detected author names
40 / 45 (88.9%)
Without detected author names
5
Without a structured title
5
Without a stable identifier
7
References with raw author names still to review
4
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
274
From DOI or external metadata
274
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
7
29 / 274 (10.6%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 245 / 274 (89.4%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
3 / 274 (1.1%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 3 / 29 (10.3%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 3 / 255 (1.2%).
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