(PS11-53) Exploring Youth Crisis Line Volunteers’ Lived Experience with Mental Health Challenges and Motivations for Crisis Line Work

Introduction

Teen-to-teen (t2t) crisis lines fill a key niche in our mental health crisis response system by providing a free service with a low barrier to access for youth. Prior research suggests youth are more likely to disclose sensitive information, including mental health concerns, to peers as opposed to adults; as such, peer-to-peer interventions may provide a unique opportunity to reach adolescents who are at risk. Little research has been conducted, however, with youth who volunteer for t2t crisis line work. The purpose of this study is to examine youth’s motivations for volunteering, and their lived experience with mental health challenges. 

Method

Participants for this study were youth volunteers (n= 85) at two large teen-to-teen lines based in major West Coast cities, who were 14-20 years old (M=16.3 years, SD=1.1), and who had begun responding to crisis texts/calls within the past 6 months. Participants were 74.1% cisgender female, 20.0% cisgender male. The remaining participants identified with a variety of gender-diverse identities. Participants were 61.2% White, 21.2% Asian, and 14.1% Multiracial, and 14.1% identified as Hispanic/Latine. At baseline, youth completed a survey that assessed reasons for joining the t2t crisis line organization. Additionally, a lived experience with mental health challenges variable was created from survey responses on lifetime presence of mental health diagnoses and lifetime presence of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. 

Results

Among their multiple reasons for volunteering, 91.8% of youth reported joining in order to build skills related to helping others, 88.2% reported joining to help others, and 70.6% reported joining to gain self-knowledge and have personal growth. Further, 60.0% of youth reported joining because of lived experience with mental health issues that were either their own or those of close others. Finally, 50.6% reported joining to destigmatize mental health conditions and 44.7% reported joining to make mental health treatment more equitable. With regards to lived experience, 51.8% of individuals reported personally having lived experience with mental health challenges, 42.4% reported not having lived experience, and 5.9% preferred not to respond. 

Conclusion

Similar to adult crisis volunteers, the most common motivations reported among youth were helping others, building helping skills, and experiencing personal growth. A unique finding among youth was that many teens reported destigmatizing mental health conditions and making mental health treatments more equitable as motivations for joining the t2t crisis line. Volunteer training approaches that discuss the role that youth can play in combating stigma and inequality may bolster volunteer commitment and satisfaction. Additionally, more than half of youth volunteers reported personal lived experience with mental health challenges, and 60% reported that personal lived experience or that of close others motivated them to join the line. Further research is needed to understand how this lived experience may impact volunteer well-being. Youth t2t crisis lines may benefit from the expertise that youth with lived experience bring to this work.