Mental Health Resources for Middle School Students

Urgent pain point:

A nonprofit public health initiative created an online resource for Black and Hispanic families with adolescent children. After early success, the organization faced a critical decision: would this same tool be embraced by Asian American families, or would cultural differences require a different approach?

Stakes were high: Asian Americans, as a group, are notably reluctant to seek mental health care. If the existing resource wasn’t appropriate, the client organization would fail to reach vulnerable middle schoolers.

How should the team proceed: promote the existing resource to Asian American families, or develop different, culturally tailored approaches?

Key differentiator: use of written pre-research assignments for both students and parents to prime respondents and surface candid insights before in-person interviewing and moderation.

1. First we had each Asian American middle-school student and their parent complete a written pre-interview assignment to capture initial attitudes and stimuli responses.
2. Then Springboard’s team of diverse Asian American moderators conducted one-on-one interviews with the students, using the pre-assignment to guide discussion.
3. Finally, different parent-student pairs were asked to complete pre-focus group written assignments. These parent-student pairs then participated in simultaneous in-person focus groups to deepen understanding of family viewpoints. Students participated in groups separate from their parents.
4. Our involvement vs. client’s: Springboard managed recruiting; designed (with client input), analyzed the pre-interview student and parent assignments, led all interviews and focus groups; analyzed and interpreted the research.
5. Steps involved: pre-interview written assignments → moderated student interviews → parent and student written assignments → in-person parent / student focus groups.

Identified 3 actionable cultural insights

1. Insight 1: The client's existing mental health support tool is not appropriate for the typical Asian American family.
2. Insight 2: Elements of the existing support tool could be modified to be more culturally effective.
3. Insight 3: Foundational parent education around mental health and parent/child communications should be an important supplement to existing education efforts.

Business impact: These clear, targeted findings significantly improved the client's ability to design and seed culturally appropriate mental health tools for Asian American families.