Table 2.

Characteristics of the studies included in the present meta-ethnography.

Year and Authors	Field of Research	Study Context	Sample	Recruitment Details	Data Collection Method	Methodological Approach	Aim	Findings
2005 Mac-Donald et al. [40]	Psychology	Australia Recovery Group Program in an early psychosis treatment	6 participants 19–25 years 5 males, 1 female	Experiences with social relationships following psychosis onset. Interviewed 1–2 years following first admission.	Multiple semi-structured in-depth interviews	Phenomenology	To explore young people’s experiences of social relationships following first episode of psychosis in order to facilitate their social relations.	“Participants in this phenomenological study were juggling a desire to be involved in normal adolescent activities with wanting to be with people who are accepting and understanding. They described not keeping in touch with their old friends associated with usual changes in friendships across the life cycle, along with a real or perceived concern about potential rejection, and a wish to leave behind harmful lifestyles and activities. The essence of the experience of these young people’s social relationships was their struggle to integrate their psychotic experiences with their experience of being young adults.” (p. 144)
2005 Hirschfeld et al. [41]	Psychology	UK Users of psychiatry recruited through keyworkers	6 participants 19–29 years All male	Interviewed 3–5 years following first episode of psychosis.	Semi-structured in-depth interviews	Constructivist Grounded Theory	To explore the subjective experiences of young men during psychosis and the meaning the experiences have for them.	“The analysis has produced four themes common to all the accounts: experience of psychosis, immediate expression of psychotic experiences, personal and interpersonal changes, and personal explanations.” (p. 262)
2009 Roy et al. [42]	Occupational Therapy	Canada The youth psychosis clinic of the Hôpital Sacré-Coeur in Montreal, Quebec	19 participants 18–30 years 16 male, 3 female	Interviewed on arrival at youth psychosis clinic prior to inclusion in rehabilitation component of the program. Interviewed within 5 years following first episode of psychosis.	Semi-structured interviews	Undefined	To explore the competence and handicap-creating situations experienced and perceived by young adults living with recently onset schizophrenia in their daily roles and activities.	“The participants experienced more handicap-creating situations than competence situations. The themes included a diminished quality of relationship with parents, social isolation and difficulties in work and academic performance, as well as poor access to education. The perception of the participants on each of these themes is elaborated.” (p. 424)
2010 Romano et al. [43]	Nursing	Canada First episode psychosis program	10 participants 19–30 years 5 male, 5 female	Interviewed twice 1–3 years following initial treatment for first episode of psychosis.	In-depth semi-structured interviews	Constructivist Grounded Theory	To explore how individuals describe their process of recovery following first episode of schizophrenia and how identified individuals, e.g., family members, describe their perceptions of and roles in the participant’s recovery process.	“The results provide a substantive theory of the process of recovery from FES that is comprised of the following phases: ‘Who they were prior to the illness’, ‘Lives interrupted: Encountering the illness’, ‘Engaging in services and supports’, ‘Re-engaging in life’, ‘Envisioning the future’; and the core category, ‘Re-shaping an enduring sense of self’, that occurred throughout all phases. A prominent feature of this model is that participants’ enduring sense of self were reshaped rather than reconstructed throughout their recovery.” (p. 243)
2011 Lam et al. [44]	Psychiatry	China/ Hong Kong The Early Assessment Service for Young People with Psychosis (EASY) in Hong Kong	6 participants 23–29 years 3 male, 3 female	Interviewed from 1.4 to 6 years following first episode of psychosis.	Focus group	Non-specified qualitative analytical method	To explore subjective recovery experiences following first-episode psychosis and the meaning attached to experiences of illness and treatment.	“(…) four major themes: the meaning of psychosis and psychotic experience; the meaning of recovery; stigma; and having an optimistic view of recovery (…) Participants’ view of recovery was broader than that often held by psychiatrists.” (p. 1)
2012 Windell et al. [45]	Psychology	Canada Follow-up assessment at a specialized early interventionservice	30 participants 25.9 years (mean) 23 male, 7 female	Interviewed 3–5 years following initiation of treatment for psychosis.	Semi-structured interviews	Phenomenology	To explore personal definitions of recovery among individuals recently treated in a specialized early-intervention service.	“A majority of individuals considered themselves to be recovered. Responses indicated that recovery is a multidimensional experience and is often a personalized and achievable goal at this early stage in treatment. Individuals described recovery as improvement in one or more of three domains: illness recovery, psychological and personal recovery, and social and functional recovery. There was variation in the extent to which individuals perceived that recovery involved alleviation of symptoms and elimination of underlying vulnerability to illness.” (p. 548)
2014 Fenton et al. [46]	Psychology	UK Early Intervention Services	6 participants Mean 24.5 years 5 male, 1 female	Interviewed 1–1.5 years following first episode of psychosis.	Semi-structured interviews	Phenomenology	To explore experiences of hospitalization during first episode of psychosis.	“Findings describe fear and confusion at admission, conflicting experiences of the inpatient unit as both safe and containing, and unsafe and chaotic, and the difficult process of maintaining identity in light of the admission.” (p. 234)
2015 Hayden-Lewis [47]	Psychology	USA Early Assessment and Support Alliance identifying young people with psychosis	7 participants 19–24 years 6 male, 1 female (1 person changed sexual orientation during the research project)	No information on length of participants’ experiences with psychosis.	Intensive semi-structured interviews	Constructivist Grounded Theory	To explore how young adults who experience psychosis and schizophrenia develop their sense of identity.	“Data analysis generated the central category of identity construction, called “making sense of psychosis”. Analysis also illuminated the properties of making sense of psychosis, which were called developing beliefs about psychosis and degrees of freedom. These properties and their dimensions influenced and were influenced by the contexts exploring relationships and relating to personal potential. The general consequence of participants’ process and experience of making sense of psychosis was called “becoming who I really am”, which best described participants incorporating psychosis into their sense of identity. The potential for a reciprocal action process existing between making sense of psychosis and becoming who I really am was also explored.” (Preface)
2019 Cogan et al. [48]	Psychology	UK Early Intervention Service in the Scottish National Health Service	10 participants 16–18 years 5 male, 5 female	Interviewed following 1–5 years of contact with the mental health system.	Semi-structured interviews	Thematic Analysis	To explore adolescents’ personal understandings and experiences of recovery during early onset of psychosis and how subjective experiences of living with psychosis have impacted their self-identification.	“Qualitative analysis of adolescents’ accounts revealed how recovery from psychosis involves working with individual explanatory frameworks concerning uncertain identities and status ambiguity, a decrease in reference points and unfavorable social comparisons (emphasizing loss, grief and self-criticism).” (p. 169)
2021 Huckle et al. [49]	Psychology	UK Early intervention service for psychosis in London	14 participants Mean: 25 years7 male, 7 female	Purposive sampling regardless of engagement with services or level of social functioning. Interviewed 0.5–2.8 years after first referral to psychiatric services.	Semi-structured interviews	Thematic Analysis	To explore experiences of friendship of young people during first episode of psychosis, focusing especially on any perceived changes in their friendships or approach to peer relationships as a result of psychosis.	“Identified themes included the loss of social contacts because young people developing psychosis withdrew and because friends withdrew as illness developed. Regarding recovery, a unique role was identified for friends, and participants were often making conscious efforts to rebuild social networks. Mental health services were viewed as having a limited direct role in this.” (p. 1)
2021 Boden-Stuart et al. [50]	Psychology	UK Early psychosis services	10 participants 18–23 years 5 male, 5 female	Purposive sampling. Interviewed following attendance at early-intervention service for 1–3 years.	Relational mapping interview	Multimodal hermeneutic phenomenological approach	To explore how young people experiencing early psychosis ‘map’ and describe their experiences and understandings of their family relationships, and how they have related to their psychosis and recovery.	“Findings explore the participants’ accounts of how they love, protect, and care for their families; how they wrestle with family ties as they mature; and their feelings about talking about their mental health with loved ones, which was typically very difficult.” (p. 646)