Research Library

Analysis of data from 28 studies estimated that around one in every four or five adolescents in the English-speaking Caribbean may experience mild to severe mental health or behaviour problems, including depressive symptoms and suicidality during adolescence. Authors: Liverpool, S., Prescod, J., Pereira, B., Trotman, C.

In light of the dramatic rise in mental health disorders amongst adolescents seen in the past decade across the world, there is an urgent need for robust evidence on what works to combat this trend. This paper provides the first robust evaluation of the impacts on school outcomes of 6-year funding programme (HeadStart) for area-level mental health interventions for adolescents. Exploiting educational administrative data on ten cohorts of state-educated secondary school students, we use the synthetic control method to construct counterfactual outcomes for areas that received the funding. Authors: Cattan, S., Lereya, S. T., Yoon, Y., Gilbert, R., Deighton, D.

There is a close association between emotion regulation and mental ill-health but how they influence each other over time is unclear. The close association between the constructs also raises the question of how conceptually distinct or similar they are. We use data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study to investigate temporal and conceptual relationships between emotion regulation and mental health difficulties in childhood. Authors: Moltrecht, B., Patalay, P., Deighton, J., Edbrooke-Childs, J., & Krause, K. R.

Social prescribing is a mechanism of connecting patients with non-medical forms of support within the community and has been shown to improve mental health and wellbeing in adult populations. In the last few years, it has been used in child and youth settings with promising results. Currently, pathways are being developed for social prescribing in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) to support children and young people on treatment waiting lists. The Wellbeing While Waiting study will evaluate whether social prescribing benefits the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people. Authors: Fancourt, D., Burton. A, Bu. F, Deighton. J, Turner. R, Wright. J, Bradbury. A, Tibber. M, Talwar. S, & Hayes. D.

Evidence from low- and middle-income countries and developing nations on children and young people's mental health is generally missed in the international narrative. This scoping review aimed to add to the body of evidence by providing an overview of the available research from the English-speaking Caribbean region. Authors: Liverpool, S., Pereira, B., Pollard, M., Prescod, J., Trotman, C. (2021).

In this study, we focused on mental health problems and subjective wellbeing, which were measured in Year 8. We measured mental health problems with the emotional and behavioural difficulties subscales of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (2022).

In this briefing, we aim to illustrate the range of targeted interventions offered by six local authority led partnerships through the HeadStart programme. We also investigate whether these interventions reached young people with higher needs in terms of their mental health and wellbeing (2022).

This briefing draws on table discussions at the HeadStart Learning 2020 conference, which took place in February 2020. The event was a collaboration between the HeadStart Learning Team and The National Lottery Community Fund, with substantial input from young people involved in HeadStart from across the six partnerships (2020).

This briefing draws on learning emerging from research led by the Evidence Based Practice Unit in collaboration with the Child Outcomes Research Consortium, The University of Manchester and Common Room. The Mercers’ Company funded the research. The Mercers’ Company is the Premier Livery Company of the City of London. Authors: Deighton, J., Stapley, E., Lereya, T., Burrell, K., Atkins, L. (2019).