Most mental health disorders begin during childhood and adolescence, creating an important opportunity for prevention and early intervention. This session will include presentations from three key studies.
The MYRIAD Study: family and school connectedness as a buffer to adverse events. This presentation will include findings from a ‘natural experiment’ nested within a larger school-based study. It will examine how Covid-19 impacted the mental health of secondary school students as well as two protective factors that served to mitigate negative effects.
The OxWell Student Survey: modern challenges for today’s adolescents. Findings from four waves of the OxWell Student Survey. This presentation will cover headline findings from four years of a large school-based survey of mental health and wellbeing, with key areas of interest including self-harm, sleep, and mental health services. Real-world implications for practitioners, schools, and researchers will be discussed.
The MindKind Study: where do we go from here? Examining adolescent perspectives on mental health research. This presentation will share findings from the MindKind Study, which explored how young people wish to share mental health data. It will cover findings from engagement with an app meant to generate a mental health databank, including qualitative findings on young people’s perspectives.
This session aims to:
- To use findings from three national studies of children and young people’s mental health to improve practice.
- To describe key challenges in children and young people’s mental health (including Covid-19).
- To appreciate the value and potential of incorporating the voice of children and young people into research and practice.
Chair: Iain Buchan, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom
Tamsin Ford, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Mina Fazel, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
Blossom Fernandes, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom
