Mental health and Wellbeing Focus Groups with Year 12 students from two English state schools – interview transcripts

Soldan, C and Stubbs, J (2026). Mental health and Wellbeing Focus Groups with Year 12 students from two English state schools – interview transcripts. [Dataset]. London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom. 10.17037/DATA.00004909.
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Research data collected as part of a project to explore the meaning of good mental health and wellbeing among young people, as well as their understanding of mental health difficulties. The discussions covered various mental health models, with a particular focus on the dual-factor (two-continua) model. Data was gathered through six semi-structured focus groups - three in a Midlands town school and three in a Southern city school. These sessions captured the views of 23 students in total, all aged 16 to 17 years (Year 12). The research data consists of anonymised transcripts and photographs of posters produced by the students during the discussions.

Additional Information

Anonymised data will be made available for use in research, subject to the signing of an LSHTM Data Transfer Agreement. Please complete the data request form to apply for access.

Keywords

Adolescent health; Mental health; Wellbeing; United Kingdom; England

Item Type Dataset
Resource Type
Resource Type
Resource Description
Dataset
Qualitative
Description of data capture Data collection took place via 6 semi-structured focus groups (3 in each school) with 2-6 participants in each group. Semi-structured and participatory interview techniques were used following the focus group topic guide. Clear ground rules were outlined at the beginning of each session, followed by an ice-breaker activity unrelated to mental health. Activities and task-based approaches were used, including the production of posters summarising students’ views. Focus groups were conducted in person, audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Convenience sampling was used to recruit schools via email. Recruitment materials including emails and posters were provided to schools and interested Year-12 students were asked to complete a signup form to take part. Audio-recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim with the assistance of an AI transcriber (Zoom 2025 AI transcriber). Interview transcripts were reviewed and amended for accuracy. Transcripts were anonymised, with names replaced by respondent ID and other potentially identifiable information for schools or students removed (indicated by square brackets). The posters produced by students were photographed and are included in the dataset.
Capture method Focus Group: Face-to-Face
Collection Period
From
To
12 June 2025
2 July 2025
Date 5 January 2026
Language(s) of written materials English
Creator(s) Soldan, C and Stubbs, J
Associated roles Mold, A (Supervisor) and Stubbs, J (Supervisor)
LSHTM Faculty/Department Faculty of Public Health and Policy > Dept of Public Health, Environments and Society
Participating Institutions London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom; PSHE Association
Funders
Project
Funder
Grant Number
Funder URI
Adolescents’ views of the relationship between wellbeing and mental health difficulties: Exploring the Dual-Factor Model with 16- to-17-year-old students in England (MSc Summer Project)
Wellcome Trust
UNSPECIFIED
https://doi.org/10.13039/100010269
Date Deposited 06 Jan 2026 12:10
Last Modified 06 Jan 2026 12:36
Publisher London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

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Data / Code

Focus_group_files.zip
subject
Data
lock
Restricted to Request access for all
copyright
Available under Data Sharing Agreement
info
Transcripts and posters produced during focus group discussion
folder_zip
application/zip
folder_info
240B
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Documentation

Consent_forms.zip
subject
Documentation
Available under Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0
info
Participant information sheet and consent form for schools and students
folder_zip
application/zip
folder_info
788kB
Download
4909_UserGuide.html
subject
Documentation
Available under Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0
info
User guide for dataset
html
text/html
folder_info
10kB
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Study Instrument

Focus_Group_Topic_Guide.pdf
subject
Study Instrument
Available under Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0
info
High-level topic guide for focus group discussion
picture_as_pdf
application/pdf
folder_info
454kB
View Download
Focus_Group_Topic_Guide_Expanded.pdf
subject
Study Instrument
Available under Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0
info
Expanded topic guide used during focus group interviews
picture_as_pdf
application/pdf
folder_info
516kB
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