Enhancing researcher capacity to engage youth in research: Researchers’ engagement experiences, barriers and capacity development priorities

Abstract Background There is increasing emphasis on engaging youth in research about youth, their needs, experiences and preferences, notably in health services research. By engaging youth as full partners, research becomes more feasible and relevant, and the validity and richness of findings are enhanced. Consequently, researchers need guidance in engaging youth effectively. This study examines the experiences, needs and knowledge gaps of researchers. Methods Eighty‐four researchers interested in youth engagement training were recruited via snowball sampling. They completed a survey regarding their youth engagement experiences, attitudes, perceived barriers and capacity development needs. Data were analysed descriptively, and comparisons were made based on current engagement experience. Results Participants across career stages and disciplines expressed an interest in increased capacity development for youth engagement. They had positive attitudes about the importance and value of youth engagement, but found it to be complex. Participants reported requiring practical guidance to develop their youth engagement practices and interest in a network of youth‐engaged researchers and on‐going training. Those currently engaging youth were more likely to report the need for greater appreciation of youth engagement by funders and institutions. Conclusions Engaging youth in research has substantial benefits. However, skills in collaborating with youth to design, conduct and implement research have to be learned. Researchers need concrete training and networking opportunities to develop and maximize these skills. They also need mechanisms that formally acknowledge the value of engagement. Researchers and those promoting youth engagement in research are encouraged to consider these findings in their promotion and training endeavours.


| INTRODUC TI ON
Researchers and funding bodies increasingly consider it essential to engage service users and individuals with lived experience across the disciplines in research relevant to them, in order to improve research quality and relevance. [1][2][3][4] Canada's Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research emphasizes the critical importance of engaging patients in health services research, as well as the need for building capacity in this way of working. 5 The movement towards patient engagement is also reflected in frameworks in other countries, such as Engaging youth in research is valuable across the disciplines, including research on issues of health and well-being, 2 health promotion 8 and mental health, 9 and also issues of social inequity, 10 community development, 11,12 organizational change 13 and educational reform. 14 While traditionally youth have been participants in research projects, youth engagement models call for youth to be full partners in the research process. 3,15 Youth engagement is particularly important in the mental health and substance use services domain. 1,2,16 By engaging youth in collaborative research activities, research is more likely to be aligned with the needs and priorities of young people; it thereby becomes more likely to be feasible, easily adopted and implemented, while producing results that are sustained over time. 3,11 However, like any other skill, collaborating with youth to develop, design, conduct and implement research has to be taught and learned; this is essential in order to guide researchers in engaging authentically, avoiding tokenism and ensuring the safety of the youth. 15,17 A recent study examined the attitudes and engagement experiences of early career researchers regarding the engagement of youth and adults in mental health research. 16 That study showed positive attitudes towards engagement among researchers, but also several barriers, such as challenges to recruiting, a lack of a supportive institutional and broader community environment, and limited practical resources. They also found that engagement was more common with adults as compared to youth. That study highlights the need for further work to understand the engagement experiences, attitudes and barriers in the youth sector across career stages with a view to enhancing training and capacity development. Model also emphasizes the importance of authentically valuing youth expertise and creating opportunities for meaningful participation. From this work, the team outlined practical guidelines for researchers, with the goal of developing a comprehensive curriculum to help researchers engage youth effectively. 17 We have also showcased some of the impacts that youth engagement has had on research conducted from a patient-oriented research framework. 18 Leveraging the team's expanding experience in and commitment to engaging youth in research, we collaborated with pan-Canadian partners, including youth, on the INNOVATE Research project. Through this project, a national team developed and presented a thorough youth engagement curriculum; the curriculum aims to build researcher capacity to engage youth in meaningful, authentic ways in all aspects of a research project, from design and development through to knowledge translation. 19 The team also assessed researchers' youth engagement practices, attitudes and capacity development needs.

| Objective
The current study aims to understand the profiles, youth engagement capacity development needs and barriers of researchers with and without youth engagement experience. By enhancing our Conclusions: Engaging youth in research has substantial benefits. However, skills in collaborating with youth to design, conduct and implement research have to be learned. Researchers need concrete training and networking opportunities to develop and maximize these skills. They also need mechanisms that formally acknowledge the value of engagement. Researchers and those promoting youth engagement in research are encouraged to consider these findings in their promotion and training endeavours.
capacity development, patient engagement, youth, youth-adult partnerships understanding of the profiles of researchers interested in youth engagement training initiatives, it will be possible to tailor training initiatives to their learning needs, while also addressing barriers to increase capacity in youth engagement in research.

| Measures
A series of measures was hosted on REDCap electronic data capture system 20 and administered electronically. The online survey included descriptive information about sociodemographic and professional profiles, as well as current practices and perceived barriers to youth engagement in research. These items were developed collaboratively among our pan-Canadian team through an iterative feedback and refinement process and included issues such as practical engagement practices, human and financial resources, relevance and ethical issues. As a pilot stage, we collected information from 83 researchers in our network regarding barriers to youth engagement and learning needs, to help shape the final survey; these researchers were not study participants, but rather colleagues who helped to refine the data collection tool.
Also included in the survey was the Service Provider Adopter tionnaire was also administered. 23 The LOU categorizes the use of an innovation from 0 (non-use) to 4 (high use). It is a 22-item scale consisting of standard stems that are being adapted to insert the innovation being assessed, that is, youth engagement in research.
Categorical results reflect the level of innovation use with the highest average score for that individual participant.

| Analyses
Data were analysed descriptively to understand the character- The engagement experience of the participants is presented in Table 2 and The SPAICQ results (Table 3) reveal that participants had high levels of concern or appreciation of youth engagement, found it compatible with the way they work and acknowledged the relative advantage of working in this way, regardless of whether they Frequently endorsed barriers included practical issues regarding the 'how to' of youth engagement (ie how to engage youth on a practical level, how to prepare youth for engagement, how to get a representative group of youth together, each endorsed by over 40% of participants). For 10 out of 11 listed barriers, there was no difference between participants who currently engage youth in research and those who do not, although there was a non-significant trend towards those engaging youth being more likely to report budgetary challenges (χ 2 (1) = 3.020, P = .082). Researchers who reported that they did not currently engage youth were significantly more likely to report that this way of working was not relevant to the type of research they do; however, cell sizes were small and this should be interpreted with caution.
Capacity-building preferences ( youth engagement by funders (χ 2 (1) = 3.877, P = .049) and institutions (χ 2 (1) = 6.382, P = .012).  Among participants in the current study interested in increasing their training in this area, it is unsurprising that attitudes towards youth engagement were very positive. Previous work has found positive attitudes towards youth engagement among researchers with diverse levels of experience and knowledge. 27  It was built based on our reviews of the literature and our progressive experience engaging youth and bringing researchers onto projects with strong youth engagement components. 15,17 The curriculum addresses many of the concerns raised by researchers in the current findings, such as providing practical guidance on many of the steps involved in youth engagement, how to obtain funding and how to report on one's youth engagement activities in ways that will be valued by the research community. However, participants also indicated considerable interest in more active forms of training. The workshops and mentorship sessions delivered as part of the project addressed this additional need, by active training and providing on-going mentorship, while taking the first steps towards building a network of youth-engaged researchers by bringing youth-engaged researchers together. The findings of the current study will be used to progressively refine our capacity-building activities and youth engagement curriculum to best meet the needs of researchers aiming to expand and enhance their youth engagement research work.

| D ISCUSS I ON
Several limitations should be kept in mind when interpreting the findings. Notably, this is not a general sample of academics; rather, it is a sample specifically composed of individuals interested in building their capacity in youth engagement, which is reflected in the high levels of interest. As such, promoters of engagement will reach this primary audience first in their capacity development initiatives, and their needs are of primary importance. The data were also collected in self-report format prior to registration for a workshop and may have been affected by social desirability. A larger sample size and more geographical diversity would also increase the generalizability of the findings, although the sample did span three large urban centres across Canada. The impact of the workshop is not assessed as part of the current manuscript. Furthermore, feedback from the youth who are ultimately engaged in the research was not collected; it is important to understand the barriers and facilitators from the engaged youth perspective to ensure that engagement learnings are applied in manners that translate into meaningful engagement experiences for youth as we move towards best practices in youth engagement. Also required is research specifically identifying the impacts of youth engagement on the evidence ultimately produced.
Engaging youth in research has substantial benefits for the feasibility and relevance of the work produced, from a youth-focused and patient-oriented research perspective. There is growing appreciation of this type of work among academics, institutions and funders, and a growing willingness among researchers to acquire training to engage youth appropriately. Concrete, active training opportunities and networks of youth-engaged researchers are required, as are mechanisms to formally acknowledge the value of working in this way. Those promoting youth engagement in research are encouraged to consider these findings in their promotion and training endeavours.

ACK N OWLED G EM ENTS
We would like to thank all of the members of the INNOVATE Research team for their contributions. We further thank Sarah Oates for her support in data analysis.

CO N FLI C T O F I NTE R E S T
None.

DATA AVA I L A B I L I T Y S TAT E M E N T
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.