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Navigating Trade-Offs in Support Preferences: Toward Supportive Communication Guidance for Help-Givers of Young People
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Navigating Trade-Offs in Support Preferences: Toward Supportive Communication Guidance for Help-Givers of Young People

Veena Calambur, Jordyn Young, Afsaneh Razi and Jina Huh-Yoo
ACM transactions on computing for healthcare, Forthcoming
Jun 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3817048
Featured in Collection :   Research Supported by Drexel Libraries' OA Programs
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https://doi.org/10.1145/3817048View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open Access via Drexel Libraries Read and Publish Program 2026 Open CC BY V4.0

Abstract

Applied computing Applied computing / Law, social and behavioral sciences Human-centered computing Human-centered computing / Collaborative and social computing Human-centered computing / Human computer interaction (HCI) Human-centered computing / Human computer interaction (HCI) / HCI design and evaluation methods Human-centered computing / Human computer interaction (HCI) / HCI design and evaluation methods / Field studies Human-centered computing / Interaction design Human-centered computing / Interaction design / Interaction design process and methods
Social support is a key protective factor for young people's mental health, yet help-seekers may perceive supportive messages received through digital devices differently depending on content and style. We investigate how young people evaluate support messages from peers, adult mentors, therapists, and AI across four help-seeking scenarios. We conducted a mixed-methods secondary analysis of a survey study with 255 participants. We identified young people's contrasting opinions on various supportive communication elements that influenced whether they liked or disliked the message, shaping how well the support was received. These contrasting findings related to (1) message length, (2) normalization of the help-seeker's situation, (3) levels of encouragement, and (4) referral to formal support. These findings highlight how individual preferences moderate support message reception. We propose a reflection question bank to guide help-givers to consider how to incorporate help-seeker's unique supportive communication element preferences and trade-offs between contrasting perceptions, informing the design of more personalized and context-sensitive support in young people's mental health.

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