Youth’s and practitioners’ perspectives on peer support and the role youth peer helpers surrounding cannabis use problems

While the importance and types of support among adults with cannabis use or mental health problems are known, these aspects remain poorly understood among youth. The purpose of this study is to better understand peer support and the role of peer helpers among adolescents and young adults experiencing cannabis use problems.

Focus groups and individual interviews were conducted among 36 youths (14-25 years old) with cannabis problem use and 21 practitioners working with this population. Using a descriptive-interpretive design, their conception of the role of peer helpers and mutual support among young cannabis problems users in relation to age, gender, and the presence of concurrent disorder were explored.

Peer support goes beyond help on how to use or information about cannabis use. Both youth and practitioners described it as the provision of mutual support and guidance among young people, in formal and informal settings. It is therewith based on a common reality surrounding the experience of cannabis use. Mental health issues coupled with cannabis use are however perceived to limit the ability to offer or receive support. Certain characteristics of the helper, the person being helped and context were identified as facilitators of peer support. Even though mutual support is perceived as promoting change through an identification process to someone who lived a common experience, it also involves risks. Providing guidance and support about responsibilities of peer helpers and role boundaries could limit potential negative consequences.

The outcomes highlight the importance, the types, and the potential benefits of peer support among youth cannabis problems user. This knowledge can be used to foster the development of innovative and less formal youth support communities (i.e. Internet forums), but also demonstrates the importance of developing a counterpart for youth with concurrent mental health disorders.