Abstract
Young people’s mental health is a growing area of concern, with three-quarters of lifetime mental health problems now presenting before the age of 24 years (Kessler et al., 2005). As such, investment is needed to enhance the mental health and wellbeing of children. There needs to be a greater emphasis on promoting positive mental health, building resilience and developing positive coping strategies. Nurses should be at the forefront of this and need to actualise their potential for working in this area.
This paper presents an interesting approach, arts-based research (ABR), to conducting research on positive mental health with young people. ABR is not research about art, but a method of enquiry that allows for new questions to be asked in a new way. It is well documented that active participation is needed in research, including research methods that engage children and aid in developing understanding of a phenomenon from their frame of reference. Capturing the unique perspective of children has the potential to offer an alternative insight using their own voice. ABR is a method that can allow for this, and as such this methodological perspective can be used as an alternative to traditional methodologies. ABR may also be useful in studying topics that are sensitive by nature, encouraging free expression in an alternative means to words.
The authors present their findings on how children of different ages (5–18 years) depict positive mental health through image. While much of the findings are what might have been expected, there is certainly room in the literature to broaden and deepen our understanding of how children view mental health. Unsurprisingly, issues such as bullying and lack of personal connections came to the forefront as factors that influence mental health negatively, whereas conversely positive relationships were seen as something that promoted positive mental health. Of note, this research demonstrates that, even at a very young age, children had insight into their own mental functioning and were able to articulate this through art. The authors also report that teachers found this method opened dialogue with their students and enhanced their relationship, therefore the longer-term impact of this research study is evident.
This paper makes a valuable contribution to both the methodological literature as well as the literature on positive mental health in young people. It can offer useful insights to nurse (and other) researchers on using ABR as a methodology and it has practical implications, particularly as a means of collecting data, with children.