Mental health of children and young people in care Mental and Behavioural Disorders
Conditions
Interventions
Participants will complete a baseline assessment and then be randomised to receive the assessment or continue with usual care. Those randomised to the intervention arm will receive a link to complete
14–17 years) and by local authority.
Sponsors
University College London
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
10 Years to 17 Years
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: Local authority eligibility: The MyVoice Study is being conducted within local authority children’s services teams across England. We will work with at least 8 local authorities. Inclusion criteria for young people: • Young person under local authority care aged 10–17 years, where their social workers have flagged concerns for the young person's mental health. This could be concern because of scoring highly on the SDQ but could also just be their perceived concern or concern expressed by the carer or young person. • Adequate English skills and intellectual capacity to complete the questionnaires and the comprehensive mental health assessment if randomised to the intervention arm. • Young people in care can be in any type of placement, except youth offending institutes or living at home with birth parents at the point of recruitment. Young people in care can participate without a caregiver but not vice versa. This is important as some of the older young people are likely to not have a consistent caregiver or might be in semi-independent living. Inclusion criteria for caregivers: Caregivers are automatically eligible if the young person in their care is eligible to participate. Inclusion criteria for social work staff: Social work staff are eligible to participate in focus groups as part of the process evaluation if they work in participating local authority teams where the comprehensive mental health assessment package has been implemented.
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: 1. Young person is currently receiving direct treatment in CAMHS 2. Young person has intellectual disability at a level that would prevent completion of questionnaires or of mental health assessment 3. Young person has insufficient English language to complete questionnaires and assessment with researcher support (due to assessment format) 4. Young person is held in custodial settings or living at home with birth parents at point of recruitment
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Emotional wellbeing assessed using the child-report Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMBWS) at 12-month follow-up | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Unless otherwise stated, all measures will be completed at baseline, 6-month and 12-month 1. Mental health and wellbeing of children and young people, covering emotional and behavioural difficulties measured using the Me and My Feelings Questionnaire (Deighton et al., 2013) 2. Caregiver-report of difficulties and strengths experienced by the young person in care covering the following areas: conduct problem, emotional difficulties, hyperactivity, peer problems and prosocial behaviour. This will be measured using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire - caregiver report (SDQ-CG) (Goodman, 1997) 3. Caregiver-report of young person in care’s quality of life measured using the KIDSCREEN-10 (Ravens-Sieberer, 2007) 4. Caregiver report of the severity of symptoms related to depression, anxiety and stress measured using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS) - Stress Subscale (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1993) 5. Young person in care’s sense of agency measured using the Pearlin Mastery Scale (Pearlin et al., 1981) 6. Caregiver assessment of the quality of the carer–child relationship measured using The Adapted Child Parent Relationship Scale (CPRS-SF) (Driscoll & Pianta, 2011) 7. Young person in care’s perceptions of their attachment to caregiver measured using The Inventory of Parents and Peer Attachment – Revised (IPPA - R) (Armsden & Greenberg, 1987) 8. Referral status for the young person in care measured using the Service Use Form. A shortened version of this measure will also be collected at a 2 month check in. 9. Perceived shared understanding of the young people in care’s mental health needs, reported by young person in care, caregiver and social worker. Measured using the Perceived Shared Understanding of Mental Health Scale 10. Service engagement and pathways for young people in care measured using the Mental Health Service Use Questionnaire 11. Satisfaction with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services from the perspectives of children, YP, and their carer | — |
Countries
England, United Kingdom
Contacts
Public ContactRachel;Ciara Hiller;O'Donnell
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Outcome results
None listed