Stigma, Silence and Strength: A Co-produced Inquiry into Mental Health Conversations in Black African Communities in the UK

In Black African communities, communication and discussions about mental health challenges and concerns are often limited, avoided or difficult to initiate and maintain as a regular part of wellbeing conversations. Therefore, using a co-production approach as a means of generating new knowledge, our study sought to identify the barriers young people and parents from Black African backgrounds face, in expressing their feelings/emotions and having conversations about mental health and wellbeing. Two Focus Group Discussions involving 19 young people (aged 11-19 years) and 12 in-depth interviews (IDIs) with parents and/community leaders was conducted. Data were analysed using Braun and Clark's thematic analysis approach. Our analysis revealed shared barriers across both groups, presented under four themes: understanding of mental health and source of support; lack of good communication in families; beliefs about societal perceptions; and response to racism incidents. Differences emerged on both groups shared expectations when dealing with issues of emotional concerns. Also, there is a sharp distinction in how young people and adults made sense of the cause of these barriers. While young people associated the cause to their parents' 'immigrant' aspiration for success, adults on the other hand attributed them to factors like a lack of close parent-child relationships and their own past childhood experiences. Furthermore, some parents' efforts to build resilience against racism, often through acculturation were found to inadvertently limit open conversations about mental health. Understanding these perceptions can help improve mental health literacy and inform culturally appropriate strategies for supporting mental health communication within Black African families and communities.