To Örebro University

Background: During adolescence, mental health problems, including anxiety and loneliness, among girls increase drastically. The perceived problems among this group do not match the inclusion criteria for mental health services and barriers to access occur. In Sweden, both the government and the voluntary sector provide services to youth. The Girls Zone (Tjejzonen) is a Swedish NGO, which targets young females. Its goal is to prevent mental health problems and to strengthen girls´ self-esteem, confidence, and trust by offering a female mentoring program. How can a NGO constitute a complement to the mental health services for young girls with mental health problems?                                                                       

Methods: In a qualitative, ecologically sensitive study young females aged 15 to 26 (n=5), women mentors (n=12) and organization managers (n=3) were interviewed and national supervisory reports on youth health services were included in inductive qualitative content analyses.                                                                                                              

Results: The analyzes show a variety of differences between the youth mental health services and the Girls Zone. Added value of the NGO is the availability, including support without inclusion criteria and a great potential to act based on young females conditions, needs and preferences including a possibility to establish a relationship with a female mentor without demand and hierarchy.                                                                                    

Conclusion: NGOs can act as important complements to the youth mental health service. A salutogenic perspective on young female’s mental health based on the Convention of Rights of the Children can empower young girls and reduce barriers for access to youth mental health service for those with severe mental health problems.                                          

Main messages: NGOs are important actors in the prevention of mental health problems among young females. NGOs can meet the needs and preferences of the target groups and facilitate empowering processes in preventing mental health problems among young females.