Asian Youth Mental Health and Wellness: A Photovoice Project

North America research has documented the underreporting of mental health needs and underutilization of mental health services among Asian youth. With the increase in anti-Asian racism in North America since the COVID-19 pandemic, the mental wellness of Asian youth is an important consideration. As such, this project examined youth mental health through photovoice methodology (Wang & Burris, 1994) during the pandemic between May 2021 and August 2022. A total of 44 youths (aged between 12 and 17) participated in six photovoice groups. Using photos, the youth explored the following topics: 1) their perception/understanding of mental health and wellness, 2) challenges to youth mental health, 3) strategies to maintain mental wellness, and 4) community support for youth mental wellness. A subset of photo stories by Asian youth (n=16) were further examined and the Asian youth were invited to a series of follow-up data analysis workshops where manifest coding was used to collaboratively analyze the data. A second cycle of thematic coding (Neuman & Robson, 2015) was subsequently used by the research team to generate broader themes. Findings suggest that the youth characterized mental health with unpredictability and instability as depicted in contrasting imagery and discussed in session. This was a unique finding among Asian youth, compared non-Asian youth in this photovoice project. Majority of these Asian youth reported school and schoolwork to be the biggest challenge to their mental health, specifically for those in high school. Yet, school programs were identified as the primary resources for seeking mental health support. Individual coping strategies identified by youth include listening to music, eating comfort food, engaging in outdoor activities or connecting to nature. Support programs at ethno-specific non-profit organizations, followed by libraries and community centers/gardens were also identified as positive resources. Implications for practice with Asian youth will be discussed in the presentation.