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Children and young people's mental health

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Published: 06 December 2022

Version: 1.0

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MRC-NIHR funding collaboration

This is a brief of broader scope from which the Health Technology Assessment (HTA), Health and Social Care Delivery Research (HSDR) Public Health Research (PHR) and MRC-NIHR Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) Programmes are interested in potentially funding more than one proposal.

Overview

The Health Technology Assessment (HTA), Health and Social Care Delivery Research (HSDR), Public Health Research (PHR) and the MRC-NIHR Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) Programmes are interested in commissioning research that evaluates interventions for children and young people which have the potential to:

  • impact on mental health
  • promote good mental health
  • prevent mental health conditions
  • recognise mental health conditions
  • diagnose or treat mental health conditions

Examples of topics of interest include, but are not limited to the evaluation of:

  • approaches to the early identification of children and young people with mental health conditions including a multi-sectorial approach.
  • interventions to improve the mental health of children and young people with co-occurring long-term medical conditions and mental health problems.
  • interventions to prevent and treat mental health conditions in children and young people with neurodevelopmental disorders.
  • digital interventions to complement and supplement face to face interventions for prevention, support and recovery.
  • organisation and delivery of mental health services to reduce waiting times and to protect and support the mental health of children and young people including supporting the delivery of culturally appropriate services.
  • interventions to promote good mental health, and to prevent and treat mental health conditions across different communities and groups, e.g., children and young people from ethnic minorities, care-experienced children and young people, young offenders, refugees, etc.
  • interventions which impact on the wider determinants of health i.e., the social, economic and environmental factors which influence mental health.
  • using existing data to understand which groups of adolescents benefit from antidepressant treatment for depression.
  • hypothesis-testing work within evaluative studies to increase understanding of mechanisms of action, for example, mechanisms of benefits and harms associated with digital or social media technologies and interventions.

Rationale

A recent government survey found that approximately one in six children and young people identified as having a probable mental health condition. The prevalence of children and young people’s mental health conditions has risen during the pandemic. Evidence suggests that self-harm has increased among young people in England in recent times and suicide is one of the leading causes of death in children and young people.  

Poor mental health has a negative impact on both the child or young person and their parents/carers and family. Parents/carers have a crucial role in children and young people’s mental health care and treatment. 

Growing evidence links a young person’s mental health to their educational success and future economic situation. If, as it is suggested, three quarters of mental illness in adults begins during adolescence, then focusing on the promotion of good mental health and the prevention and effective treatment of mental health conditions in children and young people is essential.

Research in children and young people’s mental health has an important role to play in addressing these difficulties and in 2020 the Department of Health and Social Care published overarching goals for mental health research to help guide researchers and funders. In addition, there have been other research priority setting exercises in the area conducted by, for example, NHS England and the James Lind Alliance.

In response to these and other reviews, the HTA, HSDR, PHR and EME Programmes are interested in commissioning research to address evidence gaps in the promotion of good mental health, the delivery of mental health services, the prevention of mental health conditions, the prevention of suicide and self-harm and the recognition, diagnosis and treatment of mental health conditions in children and young people.

Research programmes

The EME Programme funds ambitious studies evaluating interventions with a potential to make a step-change in the promotion of health, treatment of disease and improvement of rehabilitation or long-term care. The EME Programme primarily supports clinical trials, and other robustly designed studies that test the efficacy of interventions. The EME Programme also supports hypothesis-testing mechanistic studies.

The HTA Programme funds research when evidence already exists to show that an intervention can be effective, and this needs to be compared to the current standard intervention to see which one works best. The Programme funds research about the clinical and cost-effectiveness, and broader impact of healthcare treatments and tests, for those who plan, provide or receive care from NHS, and social care services.

The HSDR Programme aims to produce rigorous and relevant evidence to improve the quality, accessibility and organisation of health and social care services. Typical projects are mixed-methods studies and there should also be a focus on the experience of people accessing health and social care services, their carers/families and staff. Projects will often include an analysis of routine and linked data on service use, activity and outcomes.

The PHR Programme funds research to generate evidence to inform the delivery of non-NHS interventions, intended to improve the health of the public, and reduce inequalities in health. The PHR Programme is interested in interventions which have impact at the group/population level.

All participating programmes will consider primary research and the HTA, HSDR and PHR Programmes will also consider secondary research. Further information about remits can be found on each programme’s website.

Applications

The scope of the call is broad, and applicants should clearly define and justify their choice of patient/target group (including the age range), intervention, study design, setting and outcome measures.  Applicants will also need to explain how the proposed research fits within the remit of at least one of the participating Programmes and within the broader context of published and ongoing studies. Applications should be submitted to the Programme whose remit is most appropriate for the proposed research.