Exploring How Young Women From Low-Income Neighbourhoods Perceive Their Emotional Health

Many studies show that neighbourhoods have an important impact on young adults' emotional health. These studies found that low-income neighbourhoods often act as barriers to achieving and maintaining an optimal emotional health due to various neighbourhood-level factors. Furthermore, young women are often more sensitive to these neighbourhood effects than young men. This sensitivity elevates their risk to experience more severe emotional health problems than their young male counterparts. However, there exists a gap in the literature regarding how young women from low-income neighbourhoods perceive their emotional health. Therefore, using qualitative methods, this study will explore how young women (ages 14 to 18) from a low-income neighbourhood in Halifax, Nova Scotia perceive their emotional health. It will also seek to explore what these young women perceive to be the key neighbourhood-level determinants influencing their emotional health and what they believe is needed in their neighbourhood to improve their emotional health. In-depth semi-structured interviews and photovoice technique (i.e. photos taken by participants) will be employed to collect the data. The findings of this study will better shape health promotion related policies and programs to better suit the specific needs of this vulnerable population in the hopes of creating emotionally healthier young women.