Young people are not engaging with online mental health services as much as previously thought, instead relying “heavily on informal supports” such as family and friends, new research shows. “Digital mental health supports can genuinely help young people… but only when they are actually trusted and culturally relevant to them,” said Dr Carmen Kealy from the University of Galway’s Health Promotion Research Centre.“The system doesn’t really need more online resources, but rather, it should be better integrated into their lives with an easy-to-use, youth-centred design.”Young people are facing rising mental health pressures exacerbated by cost-of-living problems, insecure housing, precarious work and long wait lists for early-intervention supports, the research released on Monday by the cross-Border Atlantic Futures Project found. It involved a survey of 77 young people between the ages of 16 to 25, with “targeted recruitment” of migrants, Travellers, queer youth, young people with disabilities, those not in employment or education and those from rural communities. Thirty-nine per cent of those surveyed reported experience with a mental health condition, with 62 per cent saying they have previously accessed mental health services. “I found that across the island of Ireland ... that young people really mainly relied on their friends and that was followed by parents and youth workers,” said Kealy, who was the lead researcher.“The pattern was very consistent ... we found that friends and family were the first port of call.” She added that young people use digital resources more for a “light touch emotional regulation” rather than “structural therapy”.“That really challenges a lot of the assumptions about what digital mental health services are supposed to be for. So, again, asking young people what they’re actually using it for and what it’s good for is so important in terms of uptake”.The most successful digital services benefited from “institutional affiliation”, such as from the Health Service Executive, or the UK’s National Health Service, and peer recommendations. The mission of such services ranged from providing information and signposting, for example, the HSE Mental Health Resources website or the AsIAm charity, to mood trackers and emotional regulation such as Insight Timer. “The digital space is what young people are using. And to ignore that reality really widens inequalities, especially for marginalised young people who already face long wait lists, social stigma and structural barriers to mental health supports. Meeting young people where they’re at is really what we need to do,” she said.