What is the mental health crisis among young women in Sweden? - A prospective phenomenological exploration of lived experience and sense-making of mental health during adolescence and young adulthood

Research problem and specific questionsYoung women report the highest levels of mental ill-health in the Swedish population.

What these alarming figures imply is not fully understood.There is limited knowledge of young women’s lived experience of mental health, and how it changes over time.

Likewise, there is a need to explore differences of experiences of mental health in-between adolescent girls and young women.

My project aims to fill these knowledge gaps by a prospective exploration of how understanding and lived experience of mental health change over time in adolescent girls and young women, and how this differ between the different age groups.The overarching research question is: How does the group identified as most affected by the current mental health crisis in Sweden experience and interpret mental (ill) health and distress? addressed in three questions: 1.How do young women in Sweden, ages of 16-18-years and 21-23-years, express, understand and give meaning to their mental health experiences, and how does this change over time? 2.How do the transition from adolescence to adulthood matter for lived experience and meaning making of mental health for young Swedish women in the ages of 16- 19-years and 21-23-years? 3.How do young Swedish women in the ages of 16-18-years and 21-23-years relate their mental health to their social context, and how does this change over time?Data and methodA qualitative prospective design using interviews and short video diaries or text messages for data collection.

Data will be analyzed by using phenomenological analysis. Eligible participants are adolescent girls between 16-18-years of age, and young women between 21-23-years of age.

A sample of at least 30 informants will be recruited.Societal relevance and utilisationKnowledge of how the emerging mental health crisis is understood by young women, will inform on how to better resolve the growing mental ill-health in this population on multiple different societal levels.

This is essential, since the emerging rise of mental ill-health needs to be addressed in society at large.Plan for project realisationThe project will be at the interdisciplinary research environment of the Centre for Medical Humanities at Uppsala University, and in close collaboration with other research partners, the target population, and stakeholders in the field of mental health.

The project will be completed within a three-year period. Dissemination is done together with relevant civic actors.