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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Psychology for Clinical Settings
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1504767

The mattering citizen: Young adults with mental illness and complex needs' experiences and perceived opportunities of social inclusion

Provisionally accepted
Silje Nord-Baade Silje Nord-Baade 1,2*Ottar Ness Ottar Ness 3Michael Rowe Michael Rowe 2,4Camilla Bergsve Jensen Camilla Bergsve Jensen 1Anne Landheim Anne Landheim 1,2
  • 1 Innlandet Hospital Trust, Brumunddal, Norway
  • 2 Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Elverum, Oppland, Norway
  • 3 NTNU, Trondheim, Sør-Trøndelag, Norway
  • 4 Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The negative effects of social exclusion are well known, as are the effects of social inclusion on quality of life and well-being. Young adults with mental illness and complex needs are among the most marginalized people in the community. There is a pressing need to better define and promote social inclusion in mental health and substance use services, addressing both objective and subjective factors. The aim of this qualitative study was to examine the experiences and perceived opportunities of social inclusion among young adults with mental illness and complex needs. This was done to develop a comprehensive understanding of social inclusion that can be applied by providers in the fields of welfare, mental health, and substance use. Seven young adults (three males/four females, aged 22-29) were recruited through Flexible Assertive Community Treatment teams and participated in the study through qualitative semi-structured interviews. The material was analyzed employing an abductive thematic analysis. The findings show the interconnection between the elements of Citizenship and Mattering and underline the need for a framework including both the psychological and sociological perspectives. Developing the Citizenship framework and incorporating the Mattering approach is suggested as a multifaceted approach to promote social inclusion in practice, calling for further research on this.

    Keywords: social inclusion, citizenship, Mattering, young adults, social exclusion, Mental Health, Complex needs, flexible assertive community treatment

    Received: 01 Oct 2024; Accepted: 09 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Nord-Baade, Ness, Rowe, Jensen and Landheim. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Silje Nord-Baade, Innlandet Hospital Trust, Brumunddal, Norway

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.