While positive mental health and wellbeing is important for children and young people in its own right, mental ill-health in early life can also have lasting impacts on later-life outcomes. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the prevalence of mental health difficulties was increasing among children and young people in Ireland, and there were long waiting lists for treatment. The pandemic and associated public health restrictions have exacerbated the challenges of protecting the mental health of children and young people.
The aim of this project is to examine mental health and wellbeing in childhood and young adulthood, with a focus on trajectories of change, intergenerational persistence, access to treatment and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The project will use data on multiple dimensions of mental health and wellbeing on two cohorts of children and young people from Growing Up in Ireland (GUI), the national longitudinal study on children and young people. A variety of statistical methods will be used to test key hypotheses (e.g., growth curve modelling will indicate whether trajectories of mental health between childhood and young adulthood differ between males and females). The availability of longitudinal data on socio-economic background, family, peer and teacher relationships, etc. will facilitate an analysis of the relative importance of these factors for mental health and wellbeing at key stages of the early life course, and also allow for an examination of the extent to which patterns of mental health and wellbeing reflect existing forms of inequality (e.g., by gender, family background, etc.).
The evidence uncovered in this project will assist policymakers and practitioners in targeting resources towards children and young people most in need, as well as those involved in implementing the recommendations of Sharing the Vision, the national policy for mental health, and related initiatives (e.g., wellbeing curriculum in schools).
