Social media experiences of adolescents with communication disability: A structured interview pilot study

Social media is increasingly used by young people, including those with communication disability. To date, though, little is known about how speech-language therapists (SLTs) support the social media use of young people with communication disability. To explore what services SLTs provide to facilitate the social media use of young people with communication disability, including what these services look like, and the factors that impact SLTs' professional practices. A sequential mixed methods approach was employed including an online survey and in-depth semi-structured interviews. Participants were qualified practising SLTs in Australia with a caseload that included clients aged 12-16 years. Quantitative data were analysed with SPSS. A thematic analysis of qualitative data was conducted with NVivo. Survey responses from 61 SLTs were analysed. Interviews were conducted with 16 participants. Survey data indicated that SLTs do not systematically assess or treat young people's use of social media as part of their professional practice. Interview data revealed that where SLTs do support young people's use of social media, they transfer knowledge and practices typically used in offline contexts to underpin their work supporting clients' use of social media. In terms of factors that affect SLTs' practices, three major themes were identified: client/family factors, SLT factors, and societal factors. While young people with communication disability may desire digital participation in social media spaces, SLTs' current professional practices do not routinely address this need. Professional practice guidelines would support SLTs' practices in this area. Future research should seek the opinions of young people with communication disability regarding their use of social media, and the role of SLTs in facilitating this. What is already known on the subject Young people with communication disability use social media, but digital inequality means that they may not do so to the same extent as their typically developing peers. Services targeting a young person's social media use is within the SLT scope of practice. Whether or not SLTs routinely address the social media use of young people with communication disability as part of their professional practice is unknown. What this study adds to existing knowledge This study found that SLTs in Australia do not systematically provide professional services targeting young people's use of social media. When services do address a young person's use of social media, knowledge and practices typically used by SLTs in offline contexts are adapted to support their work targeting online social media contexts. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? This study indicates that SLTs should consider a range of factors when deciding whether to address a young person's social media use. Adapting existing offline professional practices to online environments could support SLTs' work in providing services targeting social media use. Professional practice guidelines would support SLTs' work facilitating the social media use of young people with communication disability.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of a home-based intervention using social media to enhance social networks of young people with disabilities and communication difficulties. Method: Eight young people (Mage = 15.4 years) with communication disabilities participated from two rural Australian towns. The intervention provided assistive technology and training to learn social media use. A mixed-method design combined pre- and post-assessments measuring changes in performance, satisfaction with performance, attainment on social media goals, and social network extension, and interviews investigated the way in which the intervention influenced social participation. Results: Participants showed an increase in performance, and satisfaction with performance, on the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure; paired t-tests showed statistical significance at p <0.01. Wilcoxon Signed Ranks revealed a significant increase in the number of online communication partners, p <0.05. The interviews highlighted participants’ and parents’ perceptions of increased social connections, improved communication frequency and nature, and speech intelligibility and literacy as a result of the intervention. Conclusions: The findings suggest that learning to use social media leads to increase in social participation among rural-based young people with communication disabilities. In order to benefit from advantages of learning to use social media in rural areas, parents and service providers need knowledge and skills to integrate assistive technology with the Internet needs of this group.Implications for RehabilitationYoung people with communication disabilities living in rural areas of Australia can learn and benefit from using social media such as Skype, e-mail, and Facebook to enhance their social connections.For young people with communication disabilities to benefit from social media, there needs to be more collaboration between home and school with use of assistive technologies, training, and support to learn to use social media.Parents/caregivers living in rural areas need support and training in using social media, knowledge of assistive technologies, and the expectations that these can benefit their children.Disability service providers need knowledge and skills to integrate social media and assistive technology for their clients.

Social media platforms are increasingly saturated with alcohol-related user-generated content (UGC), which can shape young people’s attitudes and behaviours towards drinking. While all young people are potentially influenced by this content, certain groups, such as Aboriginal young people; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or other sexual and gender minorities (LGBTQ+) young people; and those living in regional areas, experience disproportionate alcohol-related harms and may have unique experiences with alcohol-related UGC. However, research examining these diverse perspectives remains limited. This qualitative study explored perspectives of Aboriginal, LGBTQ+, and regional young people (aged 16–20) regarding alcohol-related social media practices through semi-structured interviews (n = 24). Reflexive thematic analysis was applied, with four overarching themes constructed from the data: (i) participants described alcohol posting as performative practice tied to sociability, identity, and peer influence; (ii) social media posts and digital amplification were seen to embed binge drinking culture within youth identity; (iii) Aboriginal, LGBTQ+, and regional participants reported distinct responses to alcohol UGC, with experiences shaped by stereotyping, safety concerns, and permissive environments; (iv) influencer-generated content was viewed as highly pervasive and many participants expressed scepticism at its authenticity. Policy action is needed to protect young people from the harms associated with online alcohol promotion and must recognize the intersectional experiences of young people from Aboriginal, LGBTQ+ and regional communities.

Background: Reflexive thematic analysis is widely used in qualitative research published in Palliative Medicine, and in the broader field of health research. However, this approach is often not used well. Common problems in published reflexive thematic analysis in general include assuming thematic analysis is a singular approach, rather than a family of methods, confusing themes and topics, and treating and reporting reflexive thematic analysis as if it is atheoretical. Purpose: We reviewed 20 papers published in Palliative Medicine between 2014 and 2022 that cited Braun and Clarke, identified using the search term ‘thematic analysis’ and the default ‘relevance’ setting on the journal webpage. The aim of the review was to identify common problems and instances of good practice. Problems centred around a lack of methodological coherence, and a lack of reflexive openness, clarity and detail in reporting. We considered contributors to these common problems, including the use of reporting checklists that are not coherent with the values of reflexive thematic analysis. To support qualitative researchers in producing coherent and reflexively open reports of reflexive thematic analysis we have developed the Reflexive Thematic Analysis Reporting Guidelines (the RTARG; in Supplemental Materials) informed by this review, other reviews we have done and our values and experience as qualitative researchers. The RTARG is also intended for use by peer reviewers to encourage methodologically coherent reviewing. Key learning points: Methodological incoherence and a lack of transparency are common problems in reflexive thematic analysis research published in Palliative Medicine. Coherence can be facilitated by researchers and reviewers striving to be knowing – thoughtful, deliberative, reflexive and theoretically aware – practitioners and appraisers of reflexive thematic analysis and developing an understanding of the diversity within the thematic analysis family of methods.

Aim:This qualitative study aimed to investigate how young people understand vaping among their peers to directly inform practice within a Local Authority (LA) public health team in the North of England.Method:The study was undertaken using a co-creation model of qualitative research between LA practitioners and Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC) embedded researchers. The study team collaboratively planned and collected data and analysed findings. Four focus groups were held with 17 young people aged between 13 and 23 years between May and August 2024. Participants were recruited from communities with reported high electronic cigarette (vape) use. Data analysis was informed by Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis approach.Results:Results suggest the importance of friendship groups, social media, mental wellbeing and family in the prevalence of youth vaping, alongside the accessibility and appeal of flavours, colours, and brands of vapes. Young people identified a lack of clear information and guidance about vapes with a mixed understanding of legal frameworks. They made valuable suggestions including specialist advisors within schools, increased regulation of the accessibility and promotion of vapes, and further information about health harms.Conclusions:This study supports existing findings about the appeal of vapes to young people. The findings also add important knowledge about experiences of young people from a range of backgrounds where vaping has been identified as more prevalent locally and which mirrors health inequality data. Findings also highlight lack of awareness of legal frameworks and health harms of vaping products. Young people’s suggestions on support to reduce vaping point towards several policy and practice interventions for use in LA settings, including providing accurate and clear information on vape harms, enhancing support services and reducing vape access and appeal.

Purpose: Qualitative research methods, grounded in an inductive analytic paradigm, increasingly inform clinical practice in the field of speech-language pathology. Social media research, often including qualitative methods, provides a valuable way to connect and listen to the voices of people with communication disabilities. With growing empirical evidence on the ways that people with communication disabilities use social media, and recognition of both benefits and limitations of its use, it is important to consider what will support clinicians to translate this work conceptually and safely into clinical practice. Method: In this paper, we use the tools of metaphor and arts-based knowledge translation to promote the translation of evidence into social media practice. Results: With social media being an important ecosystem to grow and nurture in speech-language pathology, a “picturing a social media garden” metaphor is proposed to further research translation. The metaphor will be used to frame strategies for applying qualitative techniques for speech-language pathologists to consider how to use social media in clinical and professional practice, as well as citing supporting literature to guide further reading. Conclusion: The suggested approaches could augment existing methods of assessment and intervention for people with communication disabilities and provide support for clinicians who want to develop their own strategy for using social media, build a vibrant social media ecosystem, and integrate social media interventions into their clinical services.

Background Parents of autistic children and young people have higher levels of anxiety, depression, stress and burnout, PTSD, suicidality and lower quality of life. Current research focuses on interventions with outcomes directed at the child including parent training and psychoeducation. There is a paucity of research into psychological support for the parents, and little is known about the perceptions of, and barriers to, counselling for this population. Aim This qualitative study aimed to answer the following question: What are the perceptions of parents of autistic children and young people about accessing counselling for their own mental health and well‐being? Method Parents of autistic children and young people were recruited via social media, schools, charities and counselling services, and nine parents attended online semi‐structured interviews. Transcripts were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Findings Four themes were identified: The system is broken; A need for belonging and connection; We are all different; and Counselling experience and exposure. Barriers and facilitators were identified across all four themes. Conclusion The research highlights a need for improvement in diagnostic and support services, training for counsellors, and concludes that further research is needed into psychological interventions directly targeting parent well‐being and mental health, including counselling.

BackgroundChronic pain in young people is prevalent in the UK. Young people are digital natives, yet there has not been any online intervention developed in a UK context to help them manage chronic pain. Key to understanding the context in which young people engage with online interventions is better understanding their internet use for chronic pain management. The overarching aim of this study was to explore young peoples’ experiences of searching for information about chronic pain using the internet. This included experiences of using search engines (e.g. Google), health information websites (e.g. the National Health Service [NHS] website) and social media (e.g. Facebook and Instagram).MethodsSemi-structured interviews were conducted with young people aged 16–24-years (n = 24), online, via Microsoft (MS) Teams. The study was advertised online and via patient partner charities. Interview data was analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.ResultsParticipants presented with a variety of chronic pain conditions, including joint hypermobility syndrome (n = 6), chronic headache and/or migraine (n = 4) and fibromyalgia (n = 3). Four themes were generated: ‘Trustworthy information, or experiences?’, ‘Diagnostic labels in a digital world’, ‘The online chronic pain community’ and ‘A mind and body approach to self-management’. Young people trust advice from others in their online community and having a diagnostic label help them find relevant pain management strategies and support networks online.ConclusionsThis study is the first qualitative exploration of internet use in UK-based young people with chronic pain. Findings highlight the importance of considering internet use when developing new online interventions for young people with pain and that internet use, particularly social media use, is an important psychosocial consideration in pain management. Young people should be encouraged to verify practical pain management techniques found online with their doctor and be empowered in the safe use of appropriate psychology-based self-management resources.

“You got an instant conversation”: Goal progress and perceptions following an e-mentoring social media intervention for young people who use augmentative and alternative communication

AimTo identify and report the use of social media among pre‐registration (pre‐licence) student nurses.MethodsA social survey was conducted in 2019 to explore student nurses' views of social media usage. Diffusion of innovation theory and social identity theory were used as the theoretical framework. A reflexive thematic analysis was undertaken of responses to an open‐ended question.Results351 responses were analysed. Four themes emerged: Social media as a communication tool that helps to keep in contact and communicate with friends, family, colleagues and peers; Social media and self‐care including a sense of pride, boosting morale and helping to relax; Social media and learning by sharing experiences, chatting, posts and social media and professionalism, participants expressed confusion over the use of social media professionally.ConclusionsThe diffusion of social media among UK student nurses is advancing in different aspects of UK student nurses' lives. However, the diffusion seems to slow down when it comes to the professional system. They express concerns that one social system can negatively impact another and have repercussions on a personal and/or professional level and therefore prevent UK student nurses from developing social media proficiencies. Guidance and support should be offered to UK student nurses to develop their social identity across the different systems. This diffusion can help to educate student nurses and future professionals in a globally connected world.ImpactSocial media features in student nurses' personal and professional lives and presents challenges for social identity which is woven into the personal and professional personas. Nursing faculties should have social media competencies embedded into the curricula to develop and strengthen students' social and professional identities across the different systems.Patient or Public ContributionNo Patient or Public Contribution.

Cooperative Mentorship: Negotiating Social Media Use within the Family

IntroductionIn 2017, both the disability community and popular culture are using the term “inspiration porn” to describe one form of discrimination against people with disability. ABC’s Speechless, “a sitcom about a family with a son who has a disability, (has) tackled why it’s often offensive to call people with disabilities ‘inspirational’” (Wanshel). The reasons why inspiration porn is considered to be discriminatory have been widely articulated online by people with disability. Amongst them is Carly Findlay, a disabled writer, speaker, and appearance activist, who has written that:(inspiration porn) shows non-disabled people doing good deeds for disabled people—feeding them chips at McDonald’s—’serving us all lessons in kindness’: or taking them to the high school dance. These stories usually always go viral. The person with disability probably never gave their permission for the photo or story to be used in a meme or told to the media (Findlay).The definition and dynamics of inspiration porn as illustrated in this quote will be expanded upon in this paper’s critical analysis of captions. Here, the term captions is used to describe both writing found on memes and on Facebook posts (created by a “poster”), and the comments written below these posts (created by “commenters”). Facebook threads underneath posts about people with disability both “reflect and create” (Barnes, Mercer and Shakespeare 202) current societal attitudes towards disability. That is, such threads not only illustrate negative societal attitudes towards disability, but can also perpetuate these attitudes by increasing people’s exposure to them. This paper will focus on a specific case study of inspiration porn on Facebook—the crowning of a student with autism as prom king—and consider both the conflict of whether people’s kind words are patronising use of language, as well as the concerns of over-disclosure used in this thread.What Is Inspiration Porn?The genesis of the term inspiration porn is commonly attributed to the late Stella Young, a disabled woman who was an advocate for people with disability. However, the term has been traced to a blog post written in February 2012 (bear). Anecdotal evidence from Lisa Harris, a disability consultant and advocate with over 20 years’ disability education experience, suggests that the term was blogged about as far back as 2006 on Rachel Cohen-Rottenberg’s Webpage Disability and Representation (Harris). However, it was Young who popularised the term with her 2012 article We’re Not Here for Your Inspiration and 2014 TED Talk I’m Not Your Inspiration, Thank You Very Much. Young defined inspiration porn as “an image of a person with a disability, often a kid, doing something completely ordinary—like playing, or talking, or running, or drawing a picture, or hitting a tennis ball—carrying a caption like ‘your excuse is invalid’ or ‘before you quit, try’”.It is worth noting that the use of the word porn has been considered controversial in this context. Yet it can be argued that the perception of the person with disability having achieved something great gives the person without disability a hit of positive “inspired” emotion. In this way, such inspiration could be termed as porn as it serves the purpose of fulfilling the “pornographic” self-gratification of people without disability.The term inspiration porn has historically been used in disability studies in two ways. Firstly, it has been used to describe the “ableist gaze” (Davis), which is when a person with disability is ‘seen’ through the eyes of someone without disability. Indeed, just as the “male gaze” (Mulvey) is implicit in sexualised porn, so too the “ableist gaze” is implicit in inspiration porn. Secondly, it has been used to highlight the lack of power experienced by people with disability in cultural representation (Barnes, Mercer, and Shakespeare 201). This study is a good example of the latter—it is not uncommon for people with disability to be refuted when they speak out against the inherent discrimination found within captions of (intended) kindness on Facebook threads.Inspiration porn is also a form of “objectification” (Perry) of people with disability, and is based on stereotypes (Haller and Zhang 22) about disability held by people without disability. According to Dr. Paul Sinclair, a disability scholar with 15 years’ experience in disability education, objectification and stereotyping are essential factors to understanding inspiration porn as discrimination:when a person with disability engages in their daily life, it is possible that a person without disability sees them as inspirational by superimposing his/her stereotypical perception of, or understanding about, people with disability onto the identity of the person, as a human being.Such objectification and stereotyping of people with disability is evident across various media captioning. This is particularly so in social media which often includes memes of images with “inspiring” captions—such as the ones Young highlighted as clear examples of inspiration porn, which “feature the Hamilton quote (‘The only disability in life is a bad attitude’)”. Another example of this kind of captioning is found in news items such as the 2015 article Disabled Teen Crowned Homecoming Queen in Awesome Way as featured in the article USA Today (Saggio). This article described how a student not identified as having a disability gave her homecoming queen crown to a student with a disability and captioned the YouTube clip of these students with, “High school senior [Name] was hoping she’d be crowned homecoming queen. She has cerebral palsy and has never felt like she fit in at school. What happened during the crowning ceremony will warm your heart” (Saggio). The fact that the young woman was pleased with getting the crown does not mitigate the objectifying dynamics of inspiration porn present within this example. Captioning such as this both creates and reflects some of the existing attitudes—including charity and its appeal to emotionality—that perpetuate inspiration porn.Measuring Inspiration Porn with Sentiment AnalysisThe challenge for the researcher analysing Facebook threads is how to meaningfully interpret the captions’ numerous contexts. The methodology of this research used a quantitative approach to gather numerical data about selected Facebook captions. This paper discusses data gained from a sentiment analysis (Pang and Lee; Thelwall et al.; Driscoll) of these captions within the contexts of my own and other researchers’ analyses of inspiration porn, as well as the perspectives of people with disability.The sentiment analysis was conducted using SentiStrength, a software tool that extracts both positive and negative sentiment strengths “from short informal electronic text” (Thelwall et al., 2545), and ranks it “on a numerical scale” (Driscoll 3). Sentiment analysis and SentiStrength are useful, but not perfect, tools with which to analyse Facebook captions. For example, SentiStrength determines two scales: a positive emotion measurement scale ranging from +1 (neutral) to +5 (most positive), and a negative emotion measurement scale ranging from –1 (neutral) to –5 (most negative). It calculates the positive and negative scores concurrently rather than averaging them out in order to acknowledge that captions can and do express mixed emotion (Driscoll 5).News articles about people with disability attending proms and comparable events, such as the homecoming queen example described above, are often criticised by disability activists for perpetuating inspiration porn (Mort; Findlay; Brown). Based on this criticism, sentiment analysis was used in this research to measure the emotional strength of captions—particularly their possible use of patronising language—using the Autism Speaks Facebook post as a case study. The post featured an image of a high school student with autism who had been crowned prom king.The Autism Speaks Facebook page was set up to fund “research into the causes, prevention, treatments and a cure for autism; increas(e) awareness of autism spectrum disorders; and advocat(e) for the needs of individuals with autism and their families” (Autism Speaks). The location of the prom was not specified; however, Autism Speaks is based in New York. This particular Facebook page was selected for this study based on criticism that Autism Speaks receives from disability advocates. One of the major critiques is that “(its) advertising depends on offensive and outdated rhetoric of fear and pity, presenting the lives of autistic people as tragic burdens on our families and society” (Boycott Autism Speaks). Autism Speaks has also been described as a problematic example of an organisation that “dictate(s) how disability should be perceived and dealt with. Often without input of disabled people either in the design or implementation of these organizations” (crippledscholar). This article goes on to state that “charities always frame what they do as positive and helpful even when the people who are the intended recipients disagree.”The prom king post included a photo of a young man with autism after he was crowned. He was standing beside a woman who wasn’t identified. The photo, posted by the young man’s aunt on the Autism Speaks Facebook page, included a status update that read:My autistic nephew won PROM KING today! Just so you all know, having a disability doesn’t hold you back if you don’t let it! GO [NAME]. #AutismAwareness (Autism Speaks)The following caption from the comment thread of the same Facebook post is useful as an example of how SentiStrength works. The caption read:Tears of Joy! Thank you for posting!!! Wow this gives me hope for his and my son’s and everyone’s special wonderful child nephew and niece! Way cool!However, because SentiStrength does not always accurately detect and measure sarcasm or idiomatic language usage, ”Tears” (the only negatively interpreted word i

The burden of non-communicable diseases is a growing public health crisis that requires immediate action. As health literacy (HL) has been strongly linked with health behaviours and health outcomes, it has many potential implications for health care and health education. Although recent research has emphasised the importance of developing HL early in life, much of the research has focused on understanding and improving HL in adult populations. As young people socialise in different contexts and are exposed to different health-related situations, they require different HL competencies. As part of a wider project, this study aims to gather the perceptions of international academics and community-based practitioners on the concept and importance of HL in and for young people. Specifically, the study aims to (i) explore current understandings of the concept of HL in young people; (ii) examine the importance of HL for young people; (iii) identify those at risk of having low levels of HL; and (iv) determine the specific health behaviours that young people are currently struggling with. A stakeholder mapping exercise was used to recruit academic and community-based practitioners to take part in a one-to-one interview (n = 29). Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. The preliminary findings suggest that HL is a very broad yet individualised concept that is critical to develop at an early age given the difficulty young people face in adopting healthy behaviours in their social and physical environment. Furthermore, the participants highlighted that minority groups, such as members of the travelling community and refugees, and those from low socioeconomic populations, are at greatest risk of low HL. Finally, the health issues that appeared to be of most concern in young people were vaping, social media use and poor mental health. These findings can be used to inform appropriate interventions and policies to target the HL of young people. Key messages • Health literacy is a very, yet individualised, concept that is critical to develop given the difficulty young people face in adopting healthy behaviours in their social and physical environment. • Minority groups, such as members of the travelling community, refugees, and those from low socioeconomic populations are at greatest risk of low levels of health literacy.

BackgroundMental capacity legislation in the UK is designed to safeguard the rights of people who may need support, or may be unable, to make autonomous decisions. Very limited evidence has been published about the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on the application of mental capacity legislation and, to our knowledge, none on the ability of speech and language therapists (SLTs) to support people with communication disabilities to engage in decision‐making.AimsTo describe how UK SLTs supported people with communication disabilities to make decisions and participate in mental capacity assessments, best interests decision‐making and advance care planning during the COVID‐19 pandemic.Methods & ProceduresThis descriptive, cross‐sectional study used an online survey to collect quantitative and qualitative data about SLTs’ practice experiences between August and November 2020. SLTs working with a range of adult clinical populations in different care settings were sampled purposively from all UK jurisdictions. Participants were recruited through professional networks and social media. Quantitative data were summarized using descriptive statistics. Qualitative data were analysed thematically.Outcomes & ResultsData were collected from 107 SLTs working in a range of settings across all four UK nations. The sample included SLTs working with people with neurological conditions, learning disabilities, mental health conditions and acute confusion. The need for SLT support appeared to increase during the pandemic. Most respondents were still able to offer support; however, the amount and nature of support varied. Quality of support was impacted by adjustments associated with social distancing and infection control restrictions. Personal protective equipment (PPE) was identified as a barrier to communication. Indirect working methods (e.g., telehealth) were inaccessible to some people with communication disabilities. Most respondents felt confident that legal requirements were upheld, but suggested this group was less able to engage in decision‐making and had reduced access to support to manage their own health conditions.Conclusions & ImplicationsSome SLT services were limited in their ability to meet the decision‐making support needs of people with communication disabilities during the COVID‐19 pandemic due to structural and systemic barriers. This suggests that existing inequities in the provision of care for people with communication disabilities in the UK were amplified during the pandemic.What this paper addsWhat is already known on the subjectPeople with communication disabilities may require support from healthcare professionals, including SLTs, to make decisions and communicate their wishes and preferences about their care, in line with mental capacity legislation. There is a lack of published evidence relating to how changes in staff deployment and resource during the COVID‐19 pandemic may have impacted on the ability of SLTs to provide this support.What this paper adds to existing knowledgeThis study provides novel evidence about the ways in which UK SLTs supported people with communication disabilities to engage in mental capacity assessments, best interests decision‐making and advance care planning during the COVID‐19 pandemic. In some cases, the amount and quality of decision‐making support available was affected negatively due to changes in healthcare delivery and resource management and SLT working practices.What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?This study suggests that some people with communication disabilities experienced greater barriers to receiving professional support to maximize their autonomy and manage their health conditions during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Speech and language therapy services and healthcare commissioners should consider how best to ensure equitable service delivery to this population in resource‐limited situations.

Increasing evidence shows that young people are particularly predisposed to experiencing loneliness. The aim was to develop a nuanced understanding of what can cause and what might mitigate experiences of involuntary loneliness among adolescents and emerging adults as seen from adolescents’, emerging adults’, and parents’ perspectives. A qualitative approach and reflexive thematic analysis were used. A total of eleven participants (8 adolescents/emerging adults, 3 parents) participated in individual semi-structured interviews. Six main themes and fourteen subthemes emerged. The main themes were: Involuntary loneliness has a negative impact on adolescents’ and emerging adults’ well-being, Challenges within contemporary youth culture that cause loneliness, Life circumstances that hinder connections and cause involuntary loneliness, Intervention systems that counteract involuntary loneliness, Supportive systems that mitigates involuntary loneliness, and System changes in policy and advocacy to offset loneliness. Involuntary loneliness among young people is a complex problem requiring a variety of different approaches. Young people need support in finding and building deeper friendships that can facilitate a profound connection and countervail and alleviate involuntary loneliness, thus strengthening their well-being. The mechanisms underlying the link between social media use and involuntary loneliness should be further investigated. The stigma surrounding seeking help that young people might experience should be prevented by increasing information about loneliness as a common problem and introducing individualistic approaches within healthcare that can help alleviate loneliness among young people.