Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress 2023 EHA Congress 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

A round-up of the ONWARDS phase 3 clinical trials evaluating the novel weekly insulin icodec in people with diabetes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health
Published in: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 1/2017

Open Access 01-12-2017 | Research Article

Photo-elicitation with adolescents in qualitative research: an example of its use in exploring family interactions in adolescent psychiatry

Authors: J. Sibeoni, E. Costa-Drolon, L. Poulmarc’h, S. Colin, M. Valentin, J. Pradère, A. Revah-Levy

Published in: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health | Issue 1/2017

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

Photo-elicitation is a method used increasingly often in qualitative health research, and its positive effect on the research process is well established today. Photo-elicitation appears to facilitate verbalization and insight and to improve relationships between the researcher and participants, thereby enriching the quality of the data collected. Nonetheless, it is barely used at all in the field of adolescent psychiatry. With the aim of exploring the potential of these methods for research with adolescents receiving psychiatric care, we conducted a qualitative photo-elicitation data collection study with this population, asking them about family interactions around food.

Methods

The data were collected from 15 adolescents and 17 parents during semi-structured interviews in which a photo taken by the adolescent served as the focus of discussion. Data were explored through inductive thematic analysis.

Results

Photo-elicitation played a threefold role in this study: (1) it induced the teens’ interest, thought, and pleasure, (2) it played a mediating function during the interviews, and (3) it enabled family interactions to be viewed from the adolescent’s perspective. Three themes concerning family interactions were found: (1) parent–child relationship patterns, (2) the functioning of the family group, and (3) the adolescent’s individual relation with food, that is, the issue of the adolescent’s autonomy.

Conclusions

Photo-elicitation proved to be an innovative technique in qualitative research in the area of adolescent psychiatry, one that enriched the data and enabled the emergence of new themes in this field, related in particular to the process by which adolescents develop autonomy.
Literature
1.
Harper D. Talking about pictures: a case for photo elicitation. Vis Stud. 2002;17(1):13–26.CrossRef
2.
Pain H. A literature review to evaluate the choice and use of visual methods. Int J Qual Methods. 2012;11(4):303–19.CrossRef
3.
Guillemin M, Drew S. Questions of process in participant-generated visual methodologies. Vis Stud. 2010;25(2):175–88.CrossRef
4.
Oliffe JL, Bottorff JL. Further than the eye can see? Photo elicitation and research with men. Qual Health Res. 2007;17(6):850–8.CrossRefPubMed
5.
Rhodes T, Fitzgerald J. Visual data in addictions research: seeing comes before words? Addict Res Theory. 2006;14(4):349–63.CrossRef
6.
Daniels D. Using visual methods to bring people to the center. Global Issues and Adult Education: perspectives from Latin America, Southern Africa and the United States. Jossey Bass; 2006.
7.
Grover S. Why won’t they listen to us? On giving power and voice to children participating in social research. Childhood. 2004;11(1):81–93.CrossRef
8.
Mack R, Giarelli E, Bernhardt BA. The adolescent research participant: strategies for productive and ethical interviewing. J Pediatr Nurs. 2009;24(6):448–57.CrossRefPubMed
9.
Kirk S. Methodological and ethical issues in conducting qualitative research with children and young people: a literature review. Int J Nurs Stud. 2007;44(7):1250–60.CrossRefPubMed
10.
Darbyshire P. Multiple methods in qualitative research with children: more insight or just more? Qual Res. 2005;5(4):417–36.CrossRef
11.
Moore L, Miller M. Initiating research with doubly vulnerable populations. J Adv Nurs. 1999;30(5):1034–40.CrossRefPubMed
12.
13.
Deroche K, Lahman M. Methodological considerations for conducting qualitative interviews with youth receiving mental health services. forum qualitative sozialforschung/forum. Qual Soc Res. 2008;9(3):17–35. doi:10.​17169/​fqs-9.​3.​1016.
14.
Johnson CM, Sharkey JR, McIntosh AW, Dean WR. “I’m the Momma”: using photo-elicitation to understand matrilineal influence on family food choice. BMC Women’s Health. 2010;10:21.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
15.
Yi-Frazier JP, Cochrane K, Mitrovich C, Pascual M, Buscaino E, Eaton L, Malik F. Using instagram as a modified application of photovoice for storytelling and sharing in adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Qual Health Res. 2015;25(10):1372–82.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
16.
Hill L. Some of it I haven’t told anybody else’: using photo elicitation to explore the experiences of secondary school education from the perspective of young people with a diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorder. Educ Child Psychol. 2014;31(1):79–89.
17.
Lachal J, Speranza M, Taïeb O, Falissard B, Lefèvre H, Moro MR, Revah-Levy A, Qualigramh. Qualitative research using photo-elicitation to explore the role of food in family relationships among obese adolescents. Appetite. 2012;58(3):1099–105.CrossRefPubMed
18.
Berge JM, Jin S, Hannan P, Neumark-Sztainer D. Structural and interpersonal characteristics of family meals: associations with adolescent body mass index and dietary patterns. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2013;113(6):816–22.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
19.
Wong OL. Meaning of food in childhood obesity: an exploratory study in a Chinese family context. Soc Work Health Care. 2010;49(4):362–77.CrossRefPubMed
20.
Bassett R, Chapman GE, Beagan BL. Autonomy and control: the co-construction of adolescent food choice. Appetite. 2008;50(2–3):325–32.CrossRefPubMed
21.
Sibeoni J, Orri M, Valentin M, Podlipski MA, Colin S, Pradere J, Revah-Levy A. Metasynthesis of the views about treatment of Anorexia Nervosa in adolescents: perspectives of adolescents, parents, and professionals. PLoS ONE. 2017;12(1):e0169493.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
22.
Sibeoni J, Orri M, Campredon S, Revah-Levy A. The efficacy of care as perceived by adolescents presenting anxiety-based school refusal. Soins Pediatr Pueric. 2017;38(295):43–7.PubMed
23.
Patton MQ. Qualitative research & evaluation methods. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc; 2001.
24.
Dey I. Grounding grounded theory: guidelines for qualitative inquiry. San Diego: Academic Press; 1999.CrossRef
25.
Braun V, Clarke V, Terry G. Thematic analysis. In: Rohleder P, Lyons AC, editors. Qualitative research in clinical and health psychology, vol. 7. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan; 2014.
26.
Tong A, Sainsbury P, Craig J. Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ): a 32-item checklist for interviews and focus groups. Int J Qual Health Care. 2007;19(6):349–57.CrossRefPubMed
27.
Merriam SB, Tisdell EJ. Qualitative research: a guide to design and implementation. Wiley; 2015.
28.
Sutton LB, Erlen JA, Glad JM, Siminoff LA. Recruiting vulnerable populations for research: revisiting the ethical issues. J Prof Nurs. 2003;19(2):106–12.CrossRef
29.
de Almeida Mota Ramalho J, Lachal J, Ferro Bucher-Maluschke JSN, Moro M-R, Revah-Levy A. A qualitative study of the role of food in family relationships: insight into the families of Brazilian obese adolescents using photo elicitation. Appetite. 2016;96(1):539–45.CrossRef
30.
Bowen R, Devine C. “Watching a person who knows how to cook, you’ll learn a lot” linked lives, cultural transmission, and the food choices of Puerto Rican girls. Appetite. 2011;56(2):290–8.CrossRefPubMed
31.
O’Dea J. Self-concept, self-esteem and body weight in adolescent females: a three-year longitudinal study. J Health Psychol. 2006;11(4):599–611.CrossRefPubMed
32.
Sebastian C, Burnett S, Blakemore SJ. Development of the self-concept during adolescence. Trends in Cognit Sci. 2008;12(11):441–6.CrossRef
33.
Tarrant M, MacKenzie L, Hewitt L. Friendship group identification, multidimensional self-concept, and experience of developmental tasks in adolescence. J Adolesc. 2006;29(4):627–40.CrossRefPubMed
34.
Ybrandt H. The relation between self-concept and social functioning in adolescence. J Adolesc. 2008;31(1):1–16.CrossRefPubMed
35.
Fox NJ, Ward KJ. You are what you eat? Vegetarianism, health and identity. Soc Sci Med. 2008; 66(12): e2585–e2595.
36.
Stead M, McDermott L, MacKintosh AM, Adamson A. Why healthy eating is bad for young people’s health: identity, belonging and food. Soc Sci Med. 2011;72(7):1131–9.CrossRefPubMed
37.
Didkowsky N, Ungar M, Liebenberg L. Using visual methods to capture embedded processes of resilience for youth across cultures and contexts. J Can Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2010;19(1):12–8.PubMedPubMedCentral
38.
Drew SE, Duncan RE, Sawyer SM. Visual storytelling: a beneficial but challenging method for health research with young people. Qual Health Res. 2010;20(12):1677–88.CrossRefPubMed
Metadata
Title
Photo-elicitation with adolescents in qualitative research: an example of its use in exploring family interactions in adolescent psychiatry
Authors
J. Sibeoni
E. Costa-Drolon
L. Poulmarc’h
S. Colin
M. Valentin
J. Pradère
A. Revah-Levy
Publication date
01-12-2017
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health / Issue 1/2017
Electronic ISSN: 1753-2000
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-017-0186-z

Other articles of this Issue 1/2017

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 1/2017 Go to the issue

Research Article

Socioeconomic position and self-harm among adolescents: a population-based cohort study in Stockholm, Sweden

Research Article

Adolescent adaptive behavior profiles in Williams–Beuren syndrome, Down syndrome, and autism spectrum disorder

Research article

Distinct profiles of reactive and proactive aggression in adolescents: associations with cognitive and affective empathy

Research Article

Mental health literacy in adolescents: ability to recognise problems, helpful interventions and outcomes

Research Article

Serious juvenile offenders: classification into subgroups based on static and dynamic charateristics

Research Article

Intense/obsessional interests in children with gender dysphoria: a cross-validation study using the Teacher’s Report Form