Researching the emotional and psychological well-being of young people

Families

Autism

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MicroRNA Autism Research Study (MARS)

It is estimated that 7.442 million people worldwide, and over 700,000 people in the UK (approximately 1% of the population) are autistic. Autism is a spectrum condition, and autistic people can show large differences in interaction and communication. There is no known biological marker for autism, and despite very strong genetic heritability there is no single gene contributing to more than 1% of cases. We are hoping to find out if microRNAs are biomarkers in ASD. This could help us understand more about Autism, and about what causes it. and that it might help tell us what causes autism. We finished data collection with families for this study and are in the process of analysing and writing up our findings.

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Diagnostic Instruments for Autism in Deaf children’s Study (DIADS)

At the moment there are no autism spectrum disorder (ASD) assessments for deaf children and young people. A lot of the tools that are used to do ASD assessments have been designed for hearing children and young people. This project wanted to make some changes the assessments to make them better for deaf children and young people. We then tested the assessments to see if they work well with deaf children and young people. We have finished looking for families to take part in the study and we are currently looking at and writing up the results of the project.

Ongoing

Autism Spectrum Social Stories™ In Schools Trial 2 (ASSSIST 2)

We are looking for families of children aged 4-11 years old with a diagnosis on Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to take part in our research project. We know that children and young people with autism sometimes struggle with social interaction, communication, behaviour, and interests. These difficulties often cause problems in day to day life and often result in the child or young person feeling socially isolated. We would like to see if Social Stories™ can help primary school children with ASD. If you would like to find out more about this, please see our information leaflet below:

Ongoing

Investigating SOcial Competence and Isolation in children with Autism taking part in Lego-based therapy clubs In School Environments (I-SOCIALISE)

LEGO®-based therapy is a new approach that is designed to help children and young people with autism learn new skills to help them at home, school, and with their friends.

Child Oriented Mental Health Research

We develop child orientated research for children and young people. This moves away from a national trend where child and adolescent research has been based around interventions that have been used in adult populations. We have strong involvement from young people in designing and running our research, and put children and families’ right at the centre of our thinking as we plan further research.

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Trial on Improving Inter-Generational Attachment for Children Undergoing Behaviour problems

TIGA-CUB is an NIHR Research for Patient Benefit-funded pragmatic, individually-randomised, controlled feasibility trial that aims to test the feasibility and acceptability of running a large scale RCT of manualised Child Psychotherapy vs. usual treatment for children with treatment resistant conduct disorders. The child psychotherapy manual was written by Child Psychotherapists at the Northern School of Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy (NSCAP).

Ongoing

Green & Blue Spaces in Lockdown

We wanted to find out how people have been using Green (e.g. parks, woodlands and meadows) and Blue (e.g. the seaside, lakes and rivers) spaces during lockdown. We know from research that being outdoors in nature has been associated with feeling happier and healthier. We wanted to find out whether people's use of these spaces had changed as a result of lockdown.

Ongoing

The White Rose Child & Adolescent Sleep Network

Over the last 10 years there has been a 300% increase in the number of children accessing specialist sleep support from Sheffield Children’s Hospital. The impact of sleep problems in childhood is wide-ranging in terms of physical and mental health, quality of life, behaviour and educational outcomes. Child sleep problems are also associated with poor outcomes for parents and other household members. Promoting healthy sleep is therefore a public health priority. Research investigating potential interventions to promote healthy sleep in children is limited, particularly in school and community settings.

Ongoing

Routinely used interventions for improving attachment in infants and young children: a systematic review and comprehensive UK survey

The COMIC team will work with UCL to carry out a comprehensive survey of current practice in the UK. They will then conduct a systematic review of the current evidence around these routinely used interventions.

Ongoing

Investigating SOcial Competence and Isolation in children with Autism taking part in Lego-based therapy clubs In School Environments (I-SOCIALISE)

LEGO®-based therapy is a new approach that is designed to help children and young people with autism learn new skills to help them at home, school, and with their friends.

Ongoing

Alleviating Specific Phobias Experienced by Children Trial (ASPECT)

How can we help children who have phobias? A specific phobia is a type of anxiety disorder which causes an overwhelming and unbearable fear and avoidance of whatever is causing the fear (e.g. an animal, situation, activity, etc.). It is estimated that between 5% and 10% of children have a specific phobia which impacts on their everyday lives and lasts for an average of about 20 years. Despite this, fewer than 10% report asking for help with their phobia. Specific phobias can cause distress and considerable problems at home and school and interfere with day-to-day activities. The most common treatment for specific phobias in the UK is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), a type of talking therapy that uses different techniques to help people to change unhelpful patterns of thinking around specific phobias. However, CBT usually requires multiple sessions and so it is expensive in terms of time. Additionally, people need to attend several sessions which can result in them not completing them all. A promising alternative to CBT is One Session Treatment (OST). Unlike CBT, OST does not require an extensive treatment period. Instead, a combination of treatment techniques including graduated exposure therapy, participant modelling, reinforcement, psycho-education, cognitive challenges and skills training are consolidated into a single three-hour session. However, OST has not been compared to the routine and most successful treatment for specific phobias, CBT. The aim of this study is to find out whether specific phobias can be successfully treated using OST.

Deaf Child Mental Health

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Diagnostic Instruments for Autism in Deaf children’s Study (DIADS)

Ongoing

A systematic review of early interventions for parents of deaf babies

The Child Oriented Mental health Intervention Centre (COMIC) research team, led by Professor Barry Wright, has been awarded funding by The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to conduct a systematic review of early support interventions for parents of deaf babies.

Complete

Translation into British Sign Language and validation of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: Impact

Although there are an estimated 125,000 Deaf people in the UK who use British Sign Language (BSL), there are no child mental health screening instruments accessible to children whose first or main language is BSL. The Strengths & Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is commonly used in the assessment of children’s mental health problems and is available in 60 languages. We translated the SDQ into BSL, for deaf young people, deaf parents and deaf teachers. We seek resources to enhance awareness of the availability of the SDQ in BSL among the Deaf community, with the aim of building confidence in its reliability and increasing its use. By doing so, we aim to enhance access to, and increase uptake of, mental health services among Deaf children and adolescents, ultimately leading to better mental health outcomes among this community.