Digital support for young people with their mood and wellbeing

Background

Many young people have problems with mood, and most are not getting any help.

We are now looking at different ways in which to help young people online with their health, mood and well-being.

We have developed an online programme/app with young people and families/carers to support their mood and well-being.

If you would like to take part in this study, please complete the form which can be found at the bottom of the page.

Why are we doing this research?

We are interested in how young people and parents/carers might use the online programme/app, compared to using a digital information pack for mood and well-being, along with any other help they are getting (e.g. school counselling).

It is important to get feedback so that we know how to improve and test this programme further.

If found to be effective, the programme could be made freely available in future.

Who can take part?

Young people who:

are between 13 and 19 years of age
have had problems with their mood and wellbeing (e.g. feeling down or low in mood)
have regular access to the internet.

It does not matter whether they have other support (e.g. school counselling or primary child and adolescent mental health services).

They can also take part if they are under secondary CAMHS – however, we are looking for young people who are not receiving therapy for low mood/depression under the care of secondary CAMHS at the time, and do not have severe mental health difficulties (apart from depression or anxiety) where other support might be more appropriate.

The study is open to young people who live in Wales or Scotland.

2 Their parents and carers

What does it involve?

This shows what will happen if you are happy to take part:

Start of project:

Fill in an online form, talk to us about the project and give consent to take part
Fill in an online questionnaire about your mood and wellbeing, which takes around 25-30 minutes
Receive a link to an online programme/app or digital information pack

Two months after starting:

Fill in the same online questionnaire
If you used the programme, answer extra questions about your feedback, which takes around 10-15 minutes

Two-thirds of young people will have access to the online programme and a third will receive the information pack. A computer will decide which group you will go into.

You can use the programme or pack as much as you like – on your own or with someone else such as a counsellor, parent, carer or friend.

After around two months, if you used the programme, we might ask whether you would like to meet one of us for around 30-60 minutes to discuss your feedback on it, by videoconferencing (eg Zoom, Skype or MS Teams), by phone or face-to-face.

If you used the programme, we will monitor online how you are using it, such as how often you log in, but not what you enter into it, such as how you are feeling – for 6 months from the start of the project.

We will send you gift vouchers as a thank you for taking part and for your time.

Please note

Recruitment for the Digital Support Study has now closed. Thank you very much to all who have helped with this project. Those who are still taking part can continue to access resources available over the next few months.

How will we use the information about you?

In this research study, we will use information from you. We will only use the information that we need for the research study.

We will let very few people know your name or contact details, and only if they really need it for this study.

Everyone involved in this study will keep your data safe and secure. We will also follow all privacy rules.

At the end of the study, we will save some of the data in case we need to check it. We will make sure no one can work out who you are from the reports we write. The information sheets tell you more about this.

Who is doing the study?

Dr Rhys Bevan Jones, Professor Frances Rice, and the Centre for Trials Research at Cardiff University, and Professor Sharon Simpson, University of Glasgow.

This survey is hosted by the National Centre for Mental Health (NCMH). NCMH is a Welsh Government funded Research Centre, led by Cardiff, Swansea and Bangor Universities. It is being funded by Health and Care Research Wales, Welsh Government.

The Director of the National Centre for Mental Health is Professor Ian Jones.

Download information sheets

Please email YouthOnlineStudy@cardiff.ac.uk if you have any questions or if would like help with filling in the form.

If at any point you feel you need support relating to your mental health, please talk to someone you trust (e.g. a parent or carer), a counsellor or therapist (if you are seeing someone), or your family doctor (GP). There are links and contacts at the end of the form below, which might also be helpful. If you fill the form or take part in the study, the research team might contact your GP if they have a serious concern about your wellbeing.