Wave 1 Initial Findings | Briefing

Briefing No. 4 - Mental Health and Wellbeing

Published: 23.11.2022

Authors: Erica Holt-White, Alice De Gennaro, Jake Anders, Carl Cullinane, Erin Early, Rebecca Montacute, Xin Shao and James Yarde

1.

Mansfield, R., Santos, J., Deighton, J., Hayes, D., Velikonja, T., Boehnke, J.R., and Patalay, P. (2022) The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescent mental health: a natural experiment. R. Soc. open sci, 9 (4).

2.

Burkey, S. (2021). I Want To Do Well: A literature review of existing research on pupils and young people’s experiences of COVID-19. Achievement for All (3As) Ltd. Newbury: Achievement For All.

3.

YoungMinds. (2021). Coronavirus: Impact on young people with mental health needs. Survey 4: February 2021. London: YoungMinds.

4.

Royal College of Psychiatrists (2021). Record number of children and young people referred to mental health services as pandemic takes its toll.

5.

YoungMinds. (2021). Coronavirus: Impact on young people with mental health needs. Survey 4: February 2021. London: YoungMinds.

6.

Anders, J., Macmillan, L., Sturgis, P. and Wyness, G. (2021). Inequalities in young peoples’ educational experiences and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic (CEPEO Working Paper No. 21-08). Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, UCL. https://econpapers.repec.org/paper/uclcepeow/21-08.htm and ImpactEd (2021). Pupil learning and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic. ImpactEd. https://drive.google.com/file/d/19tcaSSfyxzTXWjBlj8LsgtJM-frrfbXu/view

7.

Anders, J., Macmillan, L., Sturgis, P. and Wyness, G. (2021). Inequalities in young peoples’ educational experiences and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic (CEPEO Working Paper No. 21-08). Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, UCL.

8.

The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) involves 12 questions that indicate whether a person is experiencing psychological distress. More information about the measure can be found at: https://www.gl-assessment.co.uk/assessments/products/general-health-questionnaire/

9.

Young people who identified themselves as ‘non-binary’ or in another way have been grouped as ‘non-binary+’ (N=273), while recognising that this may not fully capture everyone’s preferred gender identity. More detail can be found in the ‘sample and methods’ section.

10.

Bachmann, C.L. and Gooch, B. (2018) LGBT in Britain: Health Report. YouGov and Stonewall. https://www.stonewall.org.uk/system/files/lgbt_in_britain_health.pdf and McGowan ,V.J., Lowther, H.J., Meads, C. (2021) Life under COVID-19 for LGBT+ people in the UK: systematic review of UK research on the impact of COVID-19 on sexual and gender minority populations. BMJ Open, 11 (7). https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/7/e050092.info

11.

Figure for the ‘Next Steps’ Cohort has been calculated by the authors (Wave 4 of the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LYSPE), conducted in 2007).

Figure for the ‘Our Future’ Cohort (Wave 5 of the LSYPE cohort 2, conducted in 2017) is derived from: Department for Education (2019) State of the nation 2019: Children and Young People’s Wellbeing. Government Social Research. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-of-the-nation-2019-children-and-young-peoples-wellbeing.

Wave 4 data (age 16/17) was not available at time of publication.

12.

Pierce, M., Hope, H., Ford, T., Hatch, S.T, Hotopf, M., John, A., Kontopantelis,E., Webb, R., Wessely, S., McManus, S. and Abel, K.M. (2020) Mental health before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal probability sample survey of the UK population. Lancet Psychiatry 2020, 7 (10): 883-892.

13.

Burkey, S. (2021). I Want To Do Well: A literature review of existing research on pupils and young people’s experiences of COVID-19. Achievement for All (3As) Ltd. Newbury: Achievement For All.

14.

Patient Health Questionnaire 2 item measure.

15.

Generalised Anxiety Disorder 2 item measure.

16.

Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

17.

Personal well-being by age group, non-seasonally adjusted quarterly estimates - Office for National Statistics. (2022).

18.

Young people’s well-being measures – Office for National Statistics. (2020). Retrieved 24 October 2022.

19.

Questions were asked to one parent or guardian in the household of each child. Throughout this briefing, this group is referred to as a ‘parent’.

20.

All analysis looking at ethnicity throughout this briefing is from the following: Anders, J., De Gennaro, A., Shao, X., & Yarde, J. (2022). Differences by ethnicity in young people’s educational experiences and wellbeing in the aftermath of COVID-19. COSMO Technical Note 1. London: UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities & Sutton Trust.

21.

Patalay, P. and Fitzsimons, E. (2020). Mental ill-health at age 17 in the UK: Prevalence of and inequalities in psychological distress, self-harm and attempted suicide. London: Centre for Longitudinal Studies.

22.

Department for Education (2018). Bullying: Evidence from LSYPE, wave 3.

23.

Bacher-Hicks, A., Goodman, J., Green J.G., Holt., M. K. (2022). The COVID-19 Pandemic Disrupted Both School Bullying and Cyberbullying. American Economic Review: Insights. 4(3), pp.353-370.

24.

Sample, I. and Davis, N. (2022) Study finds link between poor mental health and long COVID. The Guardian, 7th September. Accessed 20th September 2022.

25.

FSM: Free School Meals. Eligibility for FSM is widely used as an administrative indicator of low family income.

26.

IDACI: Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index. The IDACI (a constituent part of the Index of Multiple Deprivation/IMD) is an area-level measure that uses census data to quantify and rank neighbourhoods according to the proportion of children under the age of 16 living in low-income households. It serves as an important proxy for neighbourhood-level income deprivation affecting young people.

27.

Montacute, R., Holt-White, E., Anders, J., Cullinane, C., De Gennaro, A., Early, E., Shao, X., & Yarde, J (2022). Wave 1 Initial Findings – Education Recovery and Catch Up. COVID Social Mobility & Opportunities study (COSMO) Briefing No. 2. London: UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities & Sutton Trust.

28.

Yarde, J., Shao, X., Anders, J., Cullinane, C., De Gennaro, A., Early, E., Holt-White, E., & Montacute, R. (2022). Wave 1 Initial Findings - Future plans and aspirations. COVID Social Mobility & Opportunities (COSMO) study Briefing No. 3. London: UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities & Sutton Trust.

29.

More information on this approach can be found at: HM Govt and Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition (2021). Promoting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing - A whole school or college approach. Public Health England.

30.

Burkey, S. (2021). I Want To Do Well: A literature review of existing research on pupils and young people’s experiences of COVID-19. Achievement for All (3As) Ltd. Newbury: Achievement For All

31.

Anders, J., Calderwood, L., Crawford, C., Cullinane, C., Goodman, A., Macmillan, L., Patalay, P. & Wyness, G. (2022). COVID Social Mobility and Opportunities Study: Wave 1, 2021-2022. [data collection]. UK Data Service. SN: 9000, DOI: 10.5255/UKDA-SN-9000-1

32.

Health Survey for England. (2017). Retrieved 30 August 2022.

33.

Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R. L., & Williams, J. B. (2003). The Patient Health Questionnaire-2: validity of a two-item depression screener. Medical care, 41(11), 1284–1292.

34.

The GAD-2 was based on the GAD-7, which was developed by Drs. Robert L. Spitzer, Janet B.W. Williams, Kurt Kroenke and colleagues, with an educational grant from Pfizer Inc.

35.

Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R. L., Williams, J. B., Monahan, P. O., & Löwe, B. (2007). Anxiety disorders in primary care: prevalence, impairment, comorbidity, and detection. Annals of internal medicine, 146(5), 317–325.

36.

Millennium Cohort Study - Psychological, Developmental and Health inventories. (2015). [Ebook] (3rd ed., p. 67).

37.

The original measure is scored out of 30. The measure has been adapted to fit half the questions resulting in a maximum score of 15.

38.

OECD Better Life Index. Retrieved 30 August 2022.