Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

This study explored young people's perceptions of their worries and problems, their negotiations, coping strategies and their help-seeking behaviour. The study explored the contingent and contextual nature of young people's worries and their responses to them, including how they cope with them and to whom, if anyone, they turn for help.

Main Topics:

This data collection consists of transcripts of interviews made with young people, aged 13-14. Two samples of young people living in Scotland were studied, one living at home and the other in residential care. Various task-based methods, stimulus material and straightforward questioning were employed. The interviews included sentence completion, developing vignettes, word choice prompts, charts and problem page letters. The mix of techniques was designed to offer variety so that different young people would be likely to engage effectively with at least some of them. Material familiar to them (such as soap opera video clips and problem page letters from teenage magazines) was used to engage their interest. Task-based methods (such as ranking exercises) enabled them to take time to think about their responses rather than feeling under pressure to respond 'quickly' or 'correctly' as in more traditional interviews. The stimulus material (vignettes, problem page letters) enabled them to talk about teenage problems in general by focusing on third person scenarios, thus allowing them to choose to what extent they wished to talk about their personal experiences.

Purposive selection/case studies

Face-to-face interview