Young people in the care system are known to be at elevated risk for mental health difficulties, in comparison with the general population, and NICE guidance identifies these young people as a priority group for specialist mental health services. The period around the transition to secondary school (10-14 years) is a key vulnerability period when early problems can become entrenched or escalate, and serve as a risk factor for serious mental illness in young adulthood.  There is good reason to believe that promoting positive peer relationships will provide an important buffer for children at this crucial time.

The aim of our project is to work with Virtual Schools for Children in Care in multiple local authorities in order to:

a)    track mental health characteristics of a large sample of young people in the public care system from Years 6-8 over two school years, with comparison data from a larger sample of classmates;

b)    evaluate theoretically-driven hypotheses about socio-emotional and socio-cognitive risk factors for mental health difficulties by incorporating measures of peer relations and socio-emotional reasoning in this longitudinal work; and

c)    investigate pathways to – and experiences of – mental health care for a subgroup of young people in the public care system.

The results of our work will help us to test new models of social and emotional development in a highly vulnerable group.  It will also inform efforts to create a practical strategy for schools to identify youths in the care system at particular risk of developing significant mental health problems so that they can be effectively supported by community services.

Helen Drew holds the PhD studentship that is at the centre of this project, and we are collaborating on this project with Mary John from the Children and Young People team at the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, and with the Rees Centre for Research in Fostering and Education at the University of Oxford. 

A presentation detailing our initial findings from the first year of the longitudinal research can be found here: