Mental wellbeing for children, young people and families

 

 

Children and an adult sitting around a table outside

Our research area of Wellbeing for Children, Young People and Families undertakes work to promote better understanding and improving social and psychological well-being of children, adolescents, and their families, through innovative research into public health, health services, policy and practice. 

Research strengths include longitudinal investigations into the development of mental (e.g., anxiety, depression, conduct disorder), genetic (e.g., 22q11.2 deletion syndrome and Williams Syndrome), neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g., autism and ADHD), neurodiversity, and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). 

Our key focus includes evaluation of psychological interventions; academic procrastination; socio-emotional wellbeing; mental health literacy; mental health during pregnancy and postpartum period; gender and cultural identities, psychosocial outcomes of multilingual children and language learners, and cross-cultural studies. 

We have a pool of intellectual strength with skills in varying fields, including clinical, neurodevelopmental, social and developmental psychology; epidemiology; qualitative and quantitative research methods; and various forms of psychological therapies.

Main Contacts:

 

Super Skills

Super Skills for Life is a transdiagnostic CBT-based programme for preventing anxiety and depression and for promoting healthy lifestyles, which provides children and adolescents (for 6-18 year olds) with skills to:

  1. Enhance self-confidence, build emotional resilience, and improve social skills and competence.
  2. Cope with stressful situations such as the transition from primary to secondary school.
  3. Super Skills also covers techniques to improve healthy lifestyle such as healthy eating, physical exercise, and sleep hygiene.

Super Skills comprises 8 group sessions (45 minutes per session) which can be delivered in a group of 6 – 8 children/adolescents weekly or twice a week.

Super Skills has five core principles: (1) it is based on a transdiagnostic approach by targeting common core risk factors of comorbid disorders; (2) it is based on the principles of CBT to help children develop skills to cope with anxiety-provoking situations; (3) it uses video feedback with cognitive preparation to help children enhance their self-perception; (4) it uses the principle of behavioural activation by having children increase their activity levels and participate in positive and rewarding activities, which in turn can help to improve their mood and overall self-esteem; (5) finally, it teaches children basic skills to use during social interactions to help increase their experience of successful outcomes from the interactions.

By using a “train-the-trainer approach”, SSL training has built capacity and shaped the practice of 26,000 practitioners and has produced positive mental health outcomes in approximately one million young people in 23 countries.

Key contact: Professor Cecilia A Essau

https://www.superskillsforlife.com/

 

CHIME (Community Health Intervention through Musical Engagement)

CHIME for Perinatal Mental Health is a collaborative project working to investigate how embedded musical practices might be developed to support perinatal mental health across Africa. The intervention has been developed with, and is delivered by local women’s groups, called Kanyeleng, who exist in most neighborhoods and are well known for their skills in participatory music, which are often part of community rituals and ceremonies. The rationale for a music-based intervention centres on the evidence that music making can lift mood, forge social connections and convey basic health messages.  The intervention is delivered over 6 weeks, with mental health and wellbeing symptoms measured before and after the intervention, as well as a follow up point 6 months postnatally. It is a universal intervention (ie suitable for all pregnant women regardless of levels of symptoms). Formative work and feasibility testing was supported through funding from a GCRF grant. Through a NIHR Global Health Research groups grant, we are now conducting a randomized control trial in Gambia, as well as adapting and exploring what CHIME could look like in an urban South African setting and in Lesotho.

Key contact: Professor Lauren Stewart
Website: https://www.chimeproject.com/

Supporting students with SEND – A co-produced toolkit

Our project aims to improve support for pupils with SEND and foster more inclusive practice in schools. While our toolkit is specifically designed for children and young people with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q), it also has relevance and application for the wider SEND population. Pupils with 22q often face complex educational and socio-emotional challenges in school, and these resources were co-developed with young people with 22q, their parents and educators to offers practical, co-designed resources to promote awareness and improve inclusion and tailored support.  

See toolkit here.

ToyBox-Study Malaysia

 With funding from the MRC, our UK (Gibson, Reeves, Essau) - Malaysia research team successfully adapted the EU ToyBox-Study intervention which focuses on four targeted energy balance-related behaviours (eating healthy food, drinking water, increasing physical activity, and reducing sedentary behaviour) that are associated with childhood obesity. During COVID-19 lockdown, with funding from The Newton Fund Impact Scheme, our UK-Malaysia team successfully developed an online version to mitigate impacts on children and reach a wider national audience of preschool teachers.

Our research team trained 113 kindergarten teachers in implementing ToyBox modules in 22 government-run kindergartens (involving 483 children) over a period of 6 months.

Key contact: Professor Cecilia A Essau

Project Archive:

  1. Understanding and improving wellbeing for children and young people with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, in both education and community settings. Michelle Jayman & Maria Gudbrandsen
  2. Improving Inclusive Practice in Education for Pupils with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) – a focus on 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. Maria Gudbrandsen & Michelle Jayman (funder: Southlands Methodist Trust)
  3. Facilitators and Barriers to understanding and improving clinical mental health service provision for children and adolescents with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. Maria Gudbrandsen & Michelle Jayman
  4. Intergen project: Intergenerational adaptation of complementary schools – language use, identity and community needs (funder: Southlands Methodist Trust). Virginia Lam
  5. Multilingual emotional support (MES) programme: Wellbeing in native and non-native languages for ESOL learners. Virginia Lam (funder: BIG South London; partner: FEWP)
  6. Growing Up Bilingual: Collaborative Doctoral Training PartnershIp/DTP (2018-22 ESRC fund: ubel-dtp); researcher-practitioner engagement series (21-22 funded by BPS). Virginia Lam
  7. Promoting mental health among at-risk adolescents in Malaysia (MyHeRo), funded by the Kavli Trust: The primary aim of the MyHeRo Study is to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a school-based intervention (“Super Skills for Life”; SSL) in reducing anxiety and depression, and in improving mental wellbeing in adolescents aged 12-14 years. We also aim to determine the characteristics of adolescents who benefit from SSL, compared to those who do not, as well as to identify contextual factors related to the successful implementation of SSL in Malaysian schools.

Postgraduate Students and Scholarship

Studentship support available for prospective PhD candidates. Interested students should get in touch with the Roehampton author of the articles below.

Jayman, M., Edmonds, S., & Gudbrandsen, M. (2025). Driving Innovation to Support Pupils with SEND Through Co-Production in Education and Research: Participatory Action Research with 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome Families in England. Behavioral Sciences, 15(1), 22. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15010022

Jayman, M. & Gudbrandsen, M. (2024). Beyond awareness: Championing disability-related justice and inclusion in education and research – A response to Dr Jones. The Psychology of Education Review. 48 (1).

Gudbrandsen, M. & Howden, A. (2024). Supporting the Mental Health and Wellbeing of Pupils with SEND in Schools. The BERA Guide to Mental Health and Wellbeing in Schools: Exploring Frontline Support in Educational Research and Practice. Jayman, M., Glazzard, J., Rose, A. & Quickfall, A. (eds.). Emerald Group Publishing Ltd., p. 135-153

Husain, L., Lam, V., & Pinder, M. (2024). Growing up bilingual through a pandemic: children’s language exposure, proficiency, social identities, and competences pre- and post-lockdowns. International Journal of Bilingualism. https://doi.org/10.1177/13670069241240939

Lam, V. L. (2023). Gender‐based reasoning about novel toys: The role of child and parental factors. Infant and Child Development, 32(4), e2423. https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.2423

Sanfilippo, K. R. M., McConnell, B., Cornelius, V., Darboe, B., Huma, H. B., Gaye, M., ... & Stewart, L. (2019). A study protocol for testing the feasibility of a randomised stepped wedge cluster design to investigate a community health intervention through musical engagement (CHIME) for perinatal mental health in the Gambia. Pilot and Feasibility Studies, 5, 1-8.

Sanfilippo, K. R. M., McConnell, B., Cornelius, V., Darboe, B., Huma, H. B., Gaye, M., ... & Stewart, L. (2020). Community psychosocial music intervention (CHIME) to reduce antenatal common mental disorder symptoms in The Gambia: a feasibility trial. BMJ open, 10(11), e040287.

Papadimitriou, A., Smyth, C., Politimou, N., Franco, F., & Stewart, L. (2021). The impact of the home musical environment on infants’ language development. Infant Behavior and Development, 65, 101651.

Sanfilippo, K. R. M., Stewart, L., & Glover, V. (2021). How music may support perinatal mental health: an overview. Archives of women's mental health, 24(5), 831-839.

Stewart, L., McConnell, B. B., Darboe, B., Glover, V., Huma, H. B., Sanfilippo, K. R. M., ... & Cornelius, V. (2022). Social singing, culture and health: interdisciplinary insights from the CHIME project for perinatal mental health in The Gambia. Health Promotion International, 37(Supplement_1), i18-i25

Ramdhonee-Dowlot, K., Balloo, K., & Essau, C.A. (2021). Effectiveness of the Super Skills for Life programme in enhancing children’s emotional wellbeing in residential care institutions in low- and middle-income country: A randomised waitlist-controlled trial. Journal of Affective Disorders, 278 (1), 327-338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.09.053

Fernández-Martínez, I., Orgiles, M., Morales, A., Espada, J.P., & Essau, C.A. (2020). One-year follow-up effects of a cognitive behavior therapy-based transdiagnostic program for emotional problems in young children: A school-based cluster-randomized controlled trial. Journal of Affective Disorders, 262, 258-266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2019.11.002

de la Torre-Luque, A., Fiol-Veny, A., Essau, C.A., Maria Balle, M., & Bornas, X. (2020). Effects of a transdiagnostic cognitive behaviour therapy-based programme on the natural course of anxiety symptoms in adolescence. Journal of Affective Disorders, 264, 474-482. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2019.11.078

Cheah, W.L., Poh, B.K., Ruzita, A.T., Lee, J.A.C., Koh, D., Reeves, S., Essau, C., Summerbell, C., Hafizah, Y.N., Anchang, G.N.J., & Gibson, E.L. (2023). Process evaluation of a kindergarten-based intervention for obesity prevention in early childhood: the Toybox study Malaysia. BMC Public Health 23, 1082. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-16023-w

Lee, J.A.C., Cheah, W.L., Anchang, G.N.J., Noor Hafizah, Y., Abim, M., Ruzita, A.T., Koh, D., Reeves, S., Summerbell, C., Essau, C.A., Poh, B.K., & Gibson, E. L. (2022). Teachers’ and parents’ perspectives on the feasibility of a preschool‑based behavioral intervention to prevent obesity: An embedded qualitative study within ToyBox Study Malaysia. Early Childhood Education Journal. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-021-01290-2.

Reeves, S., Poh, B.K., Chong, Y.T., Lee, J.A.C., Cheah, W.L., Hafizah, Y.N., Nelson, G., Ruzita, A.T., Koh, D., Summerbell, C., Essau, C.A., & Gibson, E.L. (2023). From ToyBox Study to eToyBox: Advancing Childhood Obesity Reduction in Malaysian Kindergartens. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(16):6614. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20166614.

de la Torre-Luque, A., Essau, C.A., Lara, E., Leal-Leturia, I., & Borges, G. (2022). Childhood emotional dysregulation paths for suicide-related behaviour engagement in Adolescence. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-022-02111-6.

Kemp, E.C., Ray, J.V., Frick, P.J., Robertson, E.L., Fanti, K.A., Essau, C.A., Baroncelli, A., Ciucci, E. & Bijttebier, P. (2022). Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU) Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance in an Adolescent Multinational Sample. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2022.2148531

Essau, C.A. & de la Torre-Luque, A. (2021). Comorbidity between internalising and externalising disorders among adolescents: Symptom connectivity features and psychosocial outcome. Child Psychiatry & Human Development. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-021-01264-w

Gouina, J.-P., de la Torre-Luque, A., Sánchez-Carroc, Y., Geoffroyd, M.-C., & Essau, C. (2023). Heterogeneity in the trajectories of psychological distress among late adolescents during the

COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry Advances. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcv2.12195.

Morgül, E., Kallitsoglou, A., Essau, C. A., & Castro-Kemp, S. (2022). Caregiver-reported changes in the socioemotional wellbeing and daily habits of children with special educational needs during the first COVID-19 national lockdown in the UK. Frontiers in Education. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.838938

Essau, C.A. & de la Torre-Luque, A. (2021). Adolescent psychopathological profiles and the outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic: Longitudinal findings from the UK Millennium Cohort Study. Progress in Neuropsychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry, 110. (Published: 30 August 2021) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnpbp.2021.110330

Meredith Weiss, S., Aydin, E., Lloyd-Fox, S., & Johnson, M. H. (2024). Trajectories of brain and behaviour development in the womb, at birth and through infancy. Nature Human Behaviour, 8(7), 1251-1262.

Meredith Weiss, S., & Marshall, P. J. (2023). Whatever Next? Anticipation across modalities in infants, children and adults: Relating anticipatory alpha rhythm lateralization, reaction time, and executive function. Developmental Science, 26(1), e13277.

Aydin, E., Weiss, S. M., Austin, T., Johnson, M. H., Barlow, J., & Lloyd-Fox, S. (2024). Expectant parents’ perceptions of healthcare and support during COVID-19 in the UK: a thematic analysis. Journal of reproductive and infant psychology, 42(2), 209-221.

Masek, L. R., Weiss, S. M., McMillan, B. T., Paterson, S. J., Golinkoff, R. M., & Hirsh‐Pasek, K. (2023). Contingent conversations build more than language: How communicative interactions in toddlerhood relate to preschool executive function skills. Developmental Science, 26(3), e13338.

Lui, M., Lau, G. K. B., & Wong, P. K. S. (2024). The associations among executive planning, self‐determination, and quality of life in adolescents with intellectual disability. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 68(1), 53-63. https://doi.org/10.1111/jir.13091

Li, S. C., Chan, J. W., Lui, A. K. F., Lui, M., & Wong, R. W. P. (2024). Mindfulness mitigates the adverse effects of problematic smartphone use on academic self- efficacy: A structural equation modelling analysis. Educational Technology and Society, 27(3), 114. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48787020

Lau, G. K. B., Lui, M., Hildebrandt, A., Sommer, W., & Zhou, C. (2024). Higher autism trait severity in children associates with diminished integration of angry prosody in semantic processing. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 111, 102325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2023.102325

Lui, M., Lau, G. K. B., Han, Y. M. Y., Yuen, K. C. P., & Sommer, W. (2023). Strong Relationship Between Rapid Auditory Processing and Affective Prosody Recognition Among Adults with High Autistic Traits. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 53(8), 3180-3193. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-022-05600-4

Bagherzadeh-Azbari, S., Lau, G. K. B., Ouyang, G., Zhou, C., Hildebrandt, A., Sommer, W., & Lui, M. (2022). Multimodal evidence of atypical processing of eye gaze and facial emotion in children with autistic traits. Frontiers Human Neuroscience, 16, 733852. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2022.733852