Call for papers: Advancing psychiatric rehabilitation for emerging and young adults

• Elizabeth Thomas, PhD, Associate Professor, Barnett College of Public Health, Temple University
• Kathryn Sabella, PhD, Assistant Professor, UMass Chan Medical School

The editors of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal are soliciting papers for a special issue devoted to the topic of psychiatric rehabilitation for emerging and young adults with psychiatric disabilities.

Emerging and young adults with psychiatric disabilities are increasingly recognized as a distinct population with developmental needs, goals, and experiences that differ from those of older adults. This life stage is characterized by critical transitions in education, employment, relationships, healthcare, and independent living, making it important for psychiatric rehabilitation.

Although research has advanced understanding of the unique needs of emerging and young adults and interventions designed to address them, important gaps remain. This special issue seeks to advance the evidence base on psychiatric rehabilitation for emerging and young adults by highlighting research that informs the development, implementation, and evaluation of services, interventions, and systems that promote recovery and participation in community life within today's rapidly evolving social and healthcare environments. We invite submissions that focus primarily on emerging and young adults (approximately ages 18-30 years). Studies that also include older adolescents (ages 16-17 years) are welcome, provided the primary emphasis remains on emerging and young adult populations.

Topics appropriate for this special issue include, but are not limited to:

• Research studies examining the lived experiences, needs, perspectives, and preferences of emerging and young adults, their families, providers, and other stakeholders relevant to psychiatric rehabilitation, especially in today’s context.
• Research examining developmental, psychosocial, educational, vocational, cognitive, environmental, or other factors that influence recovery, functioning, and successful transition to adulthood.
• Research on diverse populations of emerging and young adults with psychiatric disabilities, including those at clinical high risk for psychosis or experiencing early psychosis, college students with serious mental health conditions, and young people from underserved or marginalized communities.
• Systematic reviews and qualitative evidence syntheses evaluating psychiatric rehabilitation approaches for emerging and young adults.
• Studies describing the development, adaptation, implementation, or evaluation of psychiatric rehabilitation interventions among emerging and young adults, including pilot studies, quasi-experimental studies, and randomized controlled trials.
• Implementation science research examining strategies to improve the adoption, reach, fidelity, sustainability, or other implementation outcomes of psychiatric rehabilitation interventions across settings that serve emerging and young adults (e.g., colleges and universities, community mental health, primary care, vocational rehabilitation, justice-involved settings, and digital services).
• Studies evaluating existing measures or developing new instruments relevant to psychiatric rehabilitation outcomes among emerging and young adults.
• Policy analyses (e.g., pre-post implementation studies, state-by-state comparisons) examining how institutional, state, or federal policies influence access to, delivery of, and outcomes from psychiatric rehabilitation services for emerging and young adults.
• Community-engaged and participatory research that meaningfully involves emerging and young adults, family members, providers, or other stakeholders in the design, conduct, interpretation, or dissemination of research relevant to psychiatric rehabilitation.

All papers will be peer reviewed, and authors should note that submission to this special issue does not guarantee acceptance. Papers can be brief reports or regular articles. 

Submissions should follow the standard guidelines for Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal and be submitted through the Manuscript Submission Portal, which is located under the instructions to authors. 

The deadline for submission of papers is January 8, 2027.

This special issue is expected to be published in 2028.

Questions regarding the special issue should be directed to Elizabeth Thomasopens in new window or Kathryn Sabella opens in new window.