Feeling valued and adding value: mattering as a lens for meaningful youth involvement in collaborative research

Although young people are increasingly engaged as co-researchers, their perspectives on this role remain insufficiently explored. Framed by theoretical perspectives on mattering and empowerment, this study examines how mattering experienced as feeling valued and adding value, is perceived by young co-researchers with lived experience of social exclusion and by academic researchers within the SOBRU project Youth Panel. Drawing on data from dialogical workshops and meetings, findings reveal mattering manifesting through interconnected dimensions of meaningful work, personal growth, community belonging, and societal contribution. Essential conditions include careful facilitation with structural support, safe relational spaces, genuine influence on research processes, and opportunities for dissemination and visibility. Mattering complements and extends empowerment frameworks by foregrounding relational recognition and affective dimensions alongside agency and influence, offering a more comprehensive understanding of meaningful participation. Practice implications include financial compensation, flexible scheduling, power-sharing mechanisms, and public visibility to sustain youth involvement across research phases.