Children's and adolescents' perceptions of Discovery Colleges in Germany: low awareness but high acceptability

Mental health challenges among children and adolescents are increasing globally and in Germany, highlighting the need for accessible, youth-centred, and prevention-oriented approaches. Discovery Colleges (DCs) are recovery-oriented, co-produced educational models that promote mental health literacy, empowerment, and peer learning within non-clinical settings. Although Discovery Colleges have been implemented internationally, little is known about how young people in Germany perceive this approach. This study explored children's and adolescents' awareness, perceived relevance, willingness to engage, and preferences regarding Discovery Colleges within the German context.

A cross-sectional mixed-methods online survey was conducted between January and April 2026 among children and adolescents aged 10-18 years. Following predefined data-cleaning procedures, responses with less than 70% questionnaire completion were excluded, resulting in a final analytic sample of 227 participants. The survey assessed familiarity with Discovery Colleges, perceived relevance following a standardised description of the model, willingness to participate, previous experiences with mental health support, sociodemographic characteristics, and open-ended questions exploring perceived facilitators and barriers to participation. Quantitative data were analysed descriptively, while qualitative responses were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.

Awareness of Discovery Colleges was low, with only 5.9% of participants reporting prior familiarity with the concept. Following a brief standardised description, 64.8% perceived Discovery Colleges as relevant for youth mental health support, and 82.4% expressed willingness to participate if such a programme were available locally. Qualitative findings identified four themes influencing engagement: (1) visibility and youth-centred outreach, (2) social connectedness and peer engagement, (3) accessibility and low-threshold participation, and (4) safe, non-clinical environments.

Despite limited prior awareness, many children and adolescents perceived Discovery Colleges as relevant and reported a willingness to engage with this type of youth-oriented mental health approach. These findings suggest that increasing awareness and ensuring accessible, youth-friendly implementation may support the future introduction of Discovery Colleges within the German mental health system. Given the exploratory design and non-probability sample, the findings should be interpreted cautiously and require confirmation through future implementation and evaluation studies.