Online peer support for children with a family member experiencing mental health challenges: perspectives from children and young people during the COVID-19 pandemic

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the benefits and difficulties with providing online peer support services for children with a family member experiencing mental health challenges. Method: Using a qualitative descriptive design, the perspectives were gathered of Australian children and young people with a family member experiencing mental health challenges and had participated in online peer support activities during the COVID-19 restrictions of 2020 and 2021. Five age-differentiated focus groups were held with participants aged between 8 and 24 years (N = 32), and interviews were held with youth peer leaders (N = 3) and program facilitators (N = 6). Results: This paper presents seven themes generated from the qualitative data. The themes captured the benefits of an online setting such as enabling greater accessibility, participation and comfort. Juxtaposed with this, themes also captured challenges such as the unease and risks of participating online, as well as the perspective that in-person activities facilitated stronger and quicker connections. Discussion: It was concluded that a blended model of online and in-person support services is likely to be valuable for children with a family member experiencing mental health challenges to ensure accessibility and provide the capacity to meet the varied needs of this cohort.