Social disadvantage, family support and young people's mental health in the UK University of Liverpool
- Run by the University of Liverpool Health Inequalities Policy Research Group, in partnership with the National Children’s Bureau (NCB) Young Research Advisors, NCB Families Research Advisory Group, UNICEF Child Friendly Cities Programme Reference Group and University of Liverpool Young Person’s Advisory Group.
- Engages young people, parents and stakeholders in areas of deprivation across the UK to investigate how social factors and adversities interact to impact adolescents’ family relationships, emotional support and subsequent mental health.
- Develops collaborative research partnerships and applies innovative statistical approaches to analyse the Millennium Cohort Study.
- Runs from September 2022 to February 2024.
Improving adolescent mental health is a major challenge for public policy. Those exposed to social adversity – including poverty, deprivation and associated risks such as parental mental illness and separation – are more likely to experience lifelong mental health issues. This not only impacts the young people themselves, but can also incur significant costs to society and care systems.
Societal and family-level protective factors, including emotional and social support that promote resilience, can potentially mitigate some of these risks, but the evidence base on this so far is limited.
This project by the University of Liverpool’s Health Inequalities Policy Research Group investigates how social factors and adversities (eg poverty) interact to impact young people’s family relationships (eg parental involvement, parenting skills), the emotional family support they receive (eg care, safety) and their subsequent mental health.
Innovative statistical approaches are applied to understand these complex relationships over time, building on recent analyses of a large representative sample of children born between 2000 and 2002 (the UK Millennium Cohort Study) and the ongoing OveRcoming Adverse ChiLdhood Experiences project (ORACLE).
Researchers engage with young people aged 12 years and above, parents and other stakeholders (eg policymakers, practitioners, voluntary organisations, local authorities and the general public) through a series of online workshops and face-to-face meetings. Participants have the opportunity to collaboratively shape insights and make recommendations on risk-reduction strategies for high-risk populations.
The evidence generated will inform the development of more effective policies and interventions to improve family support and reduce inequalities in adolescent mental health in deprived cities across the UK, such as Liverpool.
Contact details
For more information about this project, please contact Nicholas Kofi Adjei, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Public Health, Policy and Systems, University of Liverpool.
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