Improving the mental health of children and young people in Northern Ireland - making research count

This fellowship creates the opportunity to apply knowledge & learning from PhD study to identify & disseminate key findings from a new data source, the Youth Wellbeing Study NI.

The is the first survey in NI to reliably estimate the rate, or prevalence, of mental health disorders in the general population of children, young people & their parents.

It will give government, health & social care services, schools & the voluntary sector important information to help plan & deliver services to prevent & treat mental health problems.

It will help us to understand the relationship between parent & child mental health & the impact of other socio-economic & environmental factors.

The survey includes a range of measures of emotional & behavioural problems such as anxiety & depression, eating disorders, autism spectrum disorders & self-harm and suicide, physical health, education, environment & exposure to trauma (in childhood or relating to 'The Troubles' in NI).

These data have the potential to transform the understanding of mental health in the youth population in NI & inform international knowledge about the onset of mental health disorders in children & young people & the impact of intergenerational trauma in a post-conflict society.

Mental health & wellbeing is a significant public health concern & many services are stretched to breaking point.

Having a better understanding of the issues facing children & young people is crucial to plan a strategic response based on need & one that targets support & encourages early help & treatment for children & families.

While a valuable data set has been generated, it is important that this information is analysed, understood & communicated in a responsible and effective way that maximises its potential to inform policy, practice and ultimately improve service delivery.

The fellowship plan will involve training to conduct analysis to examine the relationship between anxiety & depression rates in young people & other factors such as poverty & deprivation, parental mental health & environmental factors such as social media use/bullying/cyberbullying.

Survey data has been collected on household level income, benefits, area level deprivation & home ownership, parental mental health (using the GHQ-12 questionnaire) & young people's use & experiences of social media & negative experiences online & at school.

Planned analysis will examine how these complex factors interact with each other & affect child & parental mental health.

Once this analysis has been completed, the work plan will include a series of short internships/research visits to organisations that have well established systems of making research data widely accessible, communicating research findings effectively, & influencing & shaping policy to promote change.

This will include examining co-production methods that involve people who are 'experts by experience' e.g. people with mental health problems, or care experienced young people.

The programme will also include a 6-week placement with the DOH to explore the application of this learning within a policy environment & consider how to increase & support co-production methods in this setting & increase the relevance & utility of research to improve services.

Following the internships, relevant outputs based on the anxiety & depression data will be co-produced with a group of young people & disseminated.

A paper will be prepared for the team at the DOH, building on the knowledge gained from the MHF and Chapin Hall visits, which will help explore how to engage stakeholders in their decision making & providing data access. The preparation of a peer-reviewed journal article will also be important.

Finally, the learning & experience will place me in a strong position to identify & apply for funding as principal investigator & start to build a career as an independent researcher.