Young people, socio-economic processes, and youth mental health promotion

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Quantitative research that has explored the association between socio-economic factors and youth mental health has produced mixed and at times contradictory findings. Little is known regarding relational dynamics between socio-economic processes and young people’s mental health and implications for mental health promotion initiatives. 30 diverse young people between the ages of 15 and 28 years of age from a Canadian Metropolitan region were engaged within a process of social praxis to explore their experiences of the inter-relationship between their socio-economic environments and their mental health and their processes of seeking to realize their mental health. Their experiences were compared to two sets of provincial mental health policy documents to explore the positioning of mental health policy in relation to young people and socio-economic processes.

Findings show how capitalist socio-economic dynamics both challenge young people’s mental health and limit their control in realizing their mental health. A key implication from this study is that mental health policies and programs need to be re-positioned from their focus on strengthening capitalist socio-economic processes to transforming these processes in ways that enable young people’s universal access to resources that enable inter-related mental health needs and in turn synergistic relationships between young people and socio-economic processes.

This webinar presents findings from this dissertation research and key implications for the development of health equity indicators and multi-level, inter-sectoral youth mental health promotion initiatives.

Presenter: 

Shari Laliberte, R.N., Ph.D.

Shari is a faculty member and curriculum chair within the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program within the School of Health Sciences at Vancouver Community College. Shari serves on the Board of Directors of the Metro Vancouver Alliance (MVA) and is the co-chair of the MVA Income Justice Campaign and is chair of the emerging group, LookUp: Social Determinants of Health Community of Practice for B.C. Nurses. Shari organizes and co-supervises population health promotion practicum projects for fourth year BSN students in collaboration with diverse community partners, with particular emphasis on addressing socio-environmental determinants of child and youth health. Her areas of research interest focus on deepening understanding regarding the inter-relation between socio-economic processes and young people’s mental health and implications for youth mental health promotion initiatives, and best practices in developing full scope population health promotion practicums for nursing students.