Cool with Change: young people talking about support

Abstract

Many children living in Scotland experience significant changes in their family circumstances in the course of their childhood. The most common such change is when parents decide to live apart but a small proportion of children lose a parent because of death, or experience long term absence of a parent for some other reason, or experience dramatic change as refugees or asylum seekers. Change is typically upsetting at first particularly when it is unanticipated and dramatic and it is always upsetting when it involves a sense of loss. Most young people are able to cope and get on with their lives once they get used to new arrangements, but many acknowledge that some extra help and support might have been and might be useful. The Cool with Change research project seeks to understand more about young people’s perspectives on what kinds of support, both formal and informal, are helpful. This briefing complements Research Briefing 26 which focuses on children and young people’s experience of family change.