Using Social Networking Sites in Research: An Emerging Approach to Engaging With Young People Who Have a Parent With a Mental Illness and/or Substance Abuse Disorder

ConclusionThere are challenges in connecting with and engaging with young people in research, particularly if the young person is considered underrepresented in the community. An untapped approach in attaining youth involvement in research can be through social networking sites. Social networking sites are platforms that young people use directly and regularly, and could be used as a possible recruitment tool depending on the research study objectives. Further research will do well to illustrate the use of social media in research, the risks and benefits, and how efficacious this strategy is in recruiting different at-risk groups of youths.Ethics StatementEthics for this study was approved through the relevant Monash University committee. Ethical approval number is MUHREC CF13/1766-2013000918. Paid advertising on Facebook was used to recruit participants. Potential participants were shown the information that is on the recruitment poster as an advertisement. The Facebook recruitment advertisement that was shown to potential participants comprised of 1) short title (e.g., “Tell us what you think”), 2) an image (e.g., stock image of young people), and 3) main text, up to 74 characters in length: “Does Mum or Dad have a mental illness? If yes, please consider filling out in this survey!” (See Figures 1 and 2 for an example of the advertisement used for mobile device and desktop computer). If participants chose to take part in the project, they then cl...
Source: Frontiers in Psychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research