Tag: Mental Health

Hear from our work experience students: Maduri Varathakumaran

With an interest in pursuing research, Maduri joined us for a week of work experience in June 2024. At the time, she was a Year 12 student (now in Year 13) at Nower Hill High School, a school which joined the Study of Cognition, Adolescents and Mobile Phones study in 2023. During her time with us, Maduri learnt about public engagement in research including interviewing academics, designing promotional materials and conducting a SCAMP social media takeover) as well as the research process and academic writing. Along with fellow work experience students, Maduri also produced and narrated an animated video (using Lego) and attended various Imperial events. At the end of her week with us, we asked Maduri to write about her experience so we can continue to improve our work experience programmes and learn through young people’s lived experiences. Here is what she had to say:

This week has been incredibly interesting. It was packed with adventurous tasks, exceeding my expectations and was beyond just doing ‘office’ work as I had initially expected. There were multiple roles, from making a Lego stop-motion video to interviewing Professor Dougal Hargreaves.

Working with SCAMP was not just about conducting research and sitting behind the computer but meeting new people and networking during Mohn Mingle sessions, during which I was able to widen my knowledge of the world of work and research. The team were welcoming, enabling me to build my confidence as we discussed their career trajectories which led to their current roles. My perception of this work field changed as a result of this very open working environment.

There were several growth opportunities during this placement, such as learning more about Professor Dougal Hargreaves’s career and what his work in adolescent health meant to him. We also got the chance to learn more about their ADR UK project. He provided us with a better understanding of the whole process of this project and the effect it would have in the North-West of London. This will impact me directly, as I am from this area. The interview enabled us to gain a better understanding, and once we had finished interviewing him, we could ask questions related to our future careers, which was very helpful.

When researching ADR UK and the use of administrative data, we created a stop motion video, targeted towards 12-year-olds (see below). This introduced us to and allowed us to dive deeper into the process of analysing data. But most of all, seeing the reactions of the Mohn Centre staff when they watched what we had created allowed us to see our work was appreciated and entertaining, creating a sense of joy and satisfaction. This video allowed us to bridge the barrier between teenagers and their understanding of how their data is anonymised and used.

While we had our fair share of fun, we also conducted literature reviews. I was tasked with reading articles and papers written by other academics and categorise their findings and research. The skills I developed from this task better prepared me for what will be asked of me when I go to university and in the future when I enter the work field. Despite having a few difficulties at the start of the process, including trying to figure out what this task even meant, with practice, I was able to improve my understanding and be more concise with the sources I found. There was also support from the staff, so that this was not a process I had to go through on my own.

Despite our school providing us with career learning opportunities, this experience was different from anything I have previously been shown, as it was more relevant to my personal interests. I enquired about placement opportunities with the Study of Cognition, Adolescents and Mobile Phones (SCAMP) during their data collection session at my school, which put me in contact with Nicole Curtis, a researcher at SCAMP. This is certainly an opportunity that I would recommend to others. I learnt new research skills and improved my social and communication abilities, allowing me to step out of my comfort zone and interact with new people. I hope to come back to the Mohn Centre and work alongside SCAMP in the future, as I had a wonderful experience. The skills that I have learnt in the past week will allow me to apply to my future career path in Law with confidence.

Overall, I had a spectacular experience working alongside a wonderful team, who taught me new skills which will come of use in the future, allowing me to gain experience of working in a research field. I would love to work with them again, as I believe they provide you with several opportunities whilst showing you the community they have built which focuses on the improvement and wellbeing of others.

Hear from our work experience students: Mahisha Elavarathan

With an interest in pursuing a degree in Psychology, Mahisha joined us for a week of work experience in June 2024. At the time, she was a Year 12 student (now in Year 13) at Nower Hill High School, a school which joined the Study of Cognition, Adolescents and Mobile Phones study in 2023. During her time with us, Mahisha learnt about public engagement in research including interviewing academics, designing promotional materials and conducting a SCAMP social media takeover) as well as the research process and academic writing. Along with fellow work experience students, Mahisha also produced and narrated an animated video (using Lego) and attended various Imperial events. At the end of her week with us, we asked Mahisha to write about her experience so we can continue to improve our work experience programmes and learn through young people’s lived experiences. Read about her week with us in her own words:

If I had to choose one word to describe my experience at SCAMP and the Mohn Centre this past week it would be eye-opening. I am currently in year 12 and taking A-Level Maths, Psychology and Business. I aspire to study Psychology at university and so, after taking part in the SCAMP data collection, I decided to enquire about work experience with SCAMP as I was particularly interested in mental health and factors that could potentially affect our wellbeing. Having no prior experience in research, I was quite anxious and unsure as to what I should expect from this week. Having said that, this has been one of the most engaging and educational weeks ever. The placement was a journey in terms of all the tasks we were given the chance to carry out. The opportunities we were given this week were vast and being able to not only investigate research but also have the chance to work creatively had a huge impact on me.

We started by learning about ADR UK and their Linked Local Data project. I found it interesting to see the ways our data is used to improve society. We were given a brief to create a video explaining to 12-year-olds what administrative data is, so we devised a plan to create a Lego stop- motion. Creating the video was by far my favourite activity of the week as it allowed us to harness our creativity and helped me understand administrative data better, as I was unaware what it actually meant at the start of the week. I found it so rewarding to be able to almost act as a bridge for young people to learn about what happens with their data and how it is used. I love the fact that I was able to learn about the Linked Local Data Project, as I am now able to think about times in which data may have been collected from me and how they could be linked together.

During this work placement, we were able to interview Dr Dougal Hargreaves. This was an incredible experience as I discovered his experience of working in paediatrics and neonatal intensive care units abroad. Hearing how he dealt with issues such as language barriers was very inspirational. The ability to have a conversation with him about his experiences with choosing the pathway he went down, and university applications really aided me in further solidifying my own decisions for my future as I was able to hear about research that he was interested in exploring such as how absenteeism links to child mental health. This made it clear to me that there are multiple pathways that I can take to reach my goals in life.  I especially enjoyed the format of the interview as I was able to formulate my own questions that I was interested in hearing the answers to which made the interview feel more relaxed and conversational. It helped me feel more confident and really improved my communication skills, as I had initially felt nervous about interviewing an expert. However, the whole experience allowed me to figure out how to convey my thoughts clearly and work on my confidence.

Being able to attend the Mohn Mingle was also another highlight of my week. The Mingle allowed me to hear about other research projects taking place in the Mohn Centre. Being able to learn from other professionals was fascinating, as I was not limited to hearing about projects only within the SCAMP study but was given the chance to broaden my knowledge by hearing from academics from different fields, and how all of them interconnect. The Mohn Mingle was also an opportunity for me to meet and converse with staff members who I otherwise would not have met. This permitted me to ask questions related to their jobs, creating further connections and come across potential pathways I could explore in the future.

Although we had many creative and fun tasks, we also were given the opportunity to conduct a literature review on the topic of BMI and social media usage. We learnt how to find related articles across different academic journals and how to decrease the pool of articles that would appear in our search. Although reading through some of the articles was quite challenging due to how academic they were, as time went on I found it easier to spot information that would be useful to me and the topic I was given.

Overall, this week has been a wonderful opportunity to expand and improve my skills whilst interacting with a wide range of people. Meeting all the lovely staff was a highlight, as I felt very welcomed and having the opportunity to meet not only researchers, but other supporting staff helped me majorly increase my confidence. I would love to be able to come back as it was not just a placement, it was a learning experience.

Hear from our work experience students: Jevan Sathyamoorthy

A sixth form student with a passion for psychology, Jevan joined the Mohn Centre this summer for a work experience placement. During his time, he was able to gain a better understanding of the research cycle by working with the Study of Cognition, Adolescents and Mobile Phones (SCAMP) research team. Jevan was able to meet and learn with SCAMP Research Challenge students taking part in the study at a data analysis workshop held by the team. The workshop taught these young people how to use R software for statistical analysis. He also worked on a news article which transformed a recently published research paper into digestible information for the general public. You can find his piece, ‘How Air Pollution and Traffic Noise are Silently Damaging Teenage Development’, on our News page. We also tasked him with writing about his experience with us, this is what he had to say…

During my time at the Mohn Centre with the SCAMP study (Study of Cognition, Adolescents and Mobile Phones), I was introduced to many skills that would be essential to have in any workplace, especially one concerning psychology. On my first morning, as part of the SCAMP study’s part in being a community-based research centre, I took part in an informative data analysis class with three other teenagers from participating schools in the study. We were taught the crucial skill of how to plan out and then present analysis of data collected through a clear crash course in the software R. We were then shown how to compare different data types and we were given examples on how to conduct a literature review, providing good experience into how research papers are written.

As mentioned, research papers are extremely important to psychology, and any academic field, and through my work experience at the SCAMP study, I became comfortable and familiar with them. I learned how research papers are laid out and how to quickly summarise their most important parts, a critical skill in finding where there are gaps in knowledge and what new research should be aimed at finding.

As well as being able to read research papers, I also learnt how to summarise and simplify papers into a blog post; this allows anyone from the general public to read and understand research fully. This is a crucial skill that enables research to become widely known outside of academia, shown by the blog that I was able to write which was put onto the SCAMP website.

Overall, my time spent at the SCAMP study has allowed me to understand what it is like to be in a workplace, improving my knowledge on how academic research is presented and then how to simplify it. I was able to see how the psychological research is created and my time at the SCAMP study will hopefully lead to further interaction with them and continuing to increase my knowledge in psychology.

How Air Pollution and Traffic Noise are Silently Damaging Teenage Development

Budding sixth former, Jevan Sathyamoorthy, joined the Mohn Centre for work experience. Read through his summary of a recent research article.

With a passion for psychology, Jevan was interested in learning more about the Study of Cognition, Adolescents and Mobile Phones during his work experience at the Mohn Centre, before beginning his A levels in September. Read through his summary of a recent paper published by the team titled “Air pollution, traffic noise, mental health, and cognitive development: A multi-exposure longitudinal study of London adolescents in the SCAMP cohort”.

Teenage years are a critical period for the development of a healthy brain. This stage of life serves as an important time for us to establish key life skills, such as learning how to manage emotional and behavioural difficulties to effectively complete day-to-day tasks in our later years. However, a study conducted by the Study of Cognition, Adolescents and Mobile Phones (SCAMP) across Greater London has shown that higher exposure to air and noise pollution is linked to worsened mental development during adolescence.

Until a person’s mid-twenties our brains are ‘fine tuning’ themselves, leaving us more vulnerable to the potentially negative impacts of environmental factors on our mental development and wellbeing. Although multiple studies have investigated the effects of factors such as air pollution and traffic noise on our brains, a gap in understanding remains regarding the impact of said factors on teenagers’ development. Many studies have failed to separate teenagers from younger children, which overlooks how mental changes during adolescence differ greatly from those experienced in childhood. These oversights potentially miss the specific effects these harmful factors have on teenagers’ development. To address this knowledge gap, the SCAMP team focused solely on teenagers, using data from young people aged 11 to 12 and 13 to 15 for follow up. Furthermore, this is the first study to significantly research the effect of ozone pollution on adolescent’s brain development.

SCAMP collected data from 39 schools across Greater London. After assessing participants’ answers from a series of questions relevant to their cognition and mental health, it was found that higher ozone exposure not only resulted in slower cognitive development but also caused a rise in emotional and behavioural problems. After the levels of noise that teenagers were exposed to was determined, the results showed that higher levels of traffic noise correlated to an increase in anxiety, regardless of the time of day, and this was shown to be even more significant when there was 24-hour noise exposure. These findings reinforce the claim that air and noise pollution negatively affect brain development and highlight the detrimental effects of high levels of ozone exposure. Further, the findings also showed a ‘slowing down’ of the ‘refinement’ of cognitive systems (these systems affect our mental and physical fitness, behaviour, and academic achievement, among other things).

Research into the impacts of air and noise pollution may provide solutions for local authorities, as they aim to reduce the negative impacts of pollution, improve environmental quality and tackle climate change. However, care should be taken when developing schemes aimed at reducing air pollution (e.g. NO2), as research has shown how the implementation of schemes like ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone) could lead to technology use that instead increases the levels of ozone, thus maintaining the negative impacts on young people. Overall, this paper has shown how air pollution and traffic noise, including the impacts of high ozone exposure levels, have a potentially detrimental impact on young people’s development. This should therefore add to the public case that to improve young people’s psychological health, these environmental conditions should be improved, protecting, and promoting healthy brain development as young people grow up.

Child health and school absence: Shira Neville, NIHR SPHR intern

Shira Neville shares her experiences of taking part in an 8 week NIHR SPHR sponsored internship at the Mohn Centre.

This summer the Mohn Centre welcomed Shira Neville who has been carrying out an 8-week NIHR SPHR-sponsored internship on the link between school absence and health. This aligns to the Mohn Centre’s approach of taking a holistic view to child health, recognising the complexities involved when researching education, health and school attendance.

Shira is a third-year biological sciences student at UCL and is looking forward to beginning her master’s. She is passionate about the intersection of science and public policy and is particularly interested in children’s mental health and how policy interventions can positively impact their wellbeing.

Shira is an experienced youth worker, where, having spent time on the national executive committee of a youth movement, she organises and leads camps and weekly learning programmes. Shira works as a youth director where she acts as a bridge between children, young people and adults, organising sessions and classes.

Shira is also a student representative for Jnetics, a charity dedicated to improving the prevention and diagnosis of Jewish genetic disorders where she educates students on the importance of genetic testing. Her combination of youth work, mentoring and teaching in schools has enhanced her understanding of the unique hurdles children and young people face.

As the pandemic era drew to a close, the excitement was palpable. On the 7th of March 2021, Boris Johnson made the announcement we had all been waiting for: schools were to re-open. Worksheets were printed, pens were bought, desks were laid out, and lessons were prepared. Teachers and parents were brimming with excitement. Around the country, school bells chimed signalling the return to the normal we had all longed for. However, one thing was missing: the students. A new normal – except not so normal after all. This marked the beginning of a new pandemic: the missing children.

My internship: School absence and health

My internship looked at the relationship between school absence and mental health with a focus on public policy. A perfect topic for me, looking at my previous experience:

Science and engagement

As a biology student, I have always had a passion for science. Learning how and why the body and mind work fascinates me. Yet, I always felt as though there was an essential element missing in my scientific research: the role of the community. For research to have a meaningful impact, we must talk to the people whom our research influences. This is how I discovered the world of public health; where science and new discoveries are transformed into actionable changes, governmental policies, and ways to improve lives everywhere.

Education

My experience in education has taught me that the school’s role is to support children and young people to develop into well-rounded individuals. This is not only through exam results but also developing skills such as play, friendship, boundaries and mental well-being. It is clear to see the difference in maturity and life skills of children who missed school because of the pandemic compared to those who did not, and the negative effects of school absence on a child’s health and wellbeing.

Communication

It is one thing to know the science, but another to bring people with you to make a tangible difference. Through my contributions to a systematic review with Dr Mahmood Ahmad on rheumatic heart disease and its potential treatments, I learnt about the power of words and research to suggest exciting innovations and how treating diseases is more nuanced than answering the simple question of “what works best?”. Many factors come into play such as socioeconomic status and the reliability of information recorded, making investigating equitable solutions to health inequalities an aim of my internship.

Armed with my experience in education, science, and communication, and a desire to look at a wider view of drivers of health and well-being, I searched for internships to help me pursue this passion and gain practical experience in public health. When I saw the NIHR SPHR internship, I knew it would complement my skills and experience perfectly so of course, I had to apply. I was fortunate enough to be successful! Before I began my internship, I sat with my supervisor to discuss my project. We decided to utilise my educational and community outreach experience and develop a project previously suggested by the research team. I particularly valued the chance to craft my internship to my experience and research aims of NIHR SPHR and work with experts in the field such as Dr Dougal Hargreaves and Dr Steve Hope.

I was thrilled to be working on: what actionable changes are successful in increasing attendance?

Why are children absent?

School absence rates in England have doubled in the last 5 years, a significant increase since the pandemic. Currently, 1 in 5 children or young people are persistently absent, missing 10% or more of school time. This is thought to be driven by a complex interaction between a range of factors. Some groups of children are more likely to be absent than others. This includes those with special educational needs and disabilities, mental or physical health problems, those in social care and those receiving free school meals or living in poverty. We must work to tackle issues underlying non-attendance to ensure every child goes to school.

What I accomplished

Through my preliminary investigation of the published and grey literature, I identified that a holistic approach to targeting school absenteeism is the most effective, where students with chronic absenteeism receive support from a combination of stakeholders in the education, health and social care fields. As a team, we decided to bring these diverse partners together to discuss the perspectives on the ground. I took the lead on this project and researched, identified and contacted a range of stakeholders whom I invited to the workshop. I organised the workshop for the 18th of July, where 5 teachers, 6 parents 9 health care professionals, including school nurses, Child Adolescent and Mental Health Services, paediatricians, and 6 representatives from the local council and met police attended. I executed this by building connections with these stakeholders to create a space where they felt they could speak freely and share their experiences. During the workshop, we ran sessions to understand their views on why school absence is a growing issue and what we can do to solve this problem. One session included stakeholders identifying from their perspective a factor or change that they believed could improve children’s attendance.

Findings from the workshop

The workshop was a resounding success! It was fascinating to witness the complex relationship between the stakeholders and the power of bringing these voices together. I identified themes for further investigation in my project.

1. Communication

Stakeholders emphasised that no one person can bring a child back to school.  The local authority, paediatricians, Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services, teachers, and parents, all have an essential role to play in this process. Particularly, education and health care services must work together to provide more seamless solutions for children and young people who are chronically absent. This is echoed by policymakers who have published guidance for parents on how they can receive the right support from schools and the local authority to help their children attend school. If one element is missing in that chain of communication – it all collapses. It is important to not only build this chain but also maintain it throughout a child’s school career.

2. No child is the same

Imagine a world where you, your friends, and your family had to do the same job day in, day out! On top of that, you all must wear the same stifling blazer, tie and shirt (must be tucked in) emblazoned with a fluorescent logo. The stakeholders explained that this is what school feels like for some children. The same teaching method may help one child follow their dreams but leave another feeling excluded and left behind. We live in a flexible world, yet schools can be inflexible. We need to address this by creating alternative education plans for those who cannot cope with normal schooling methods.

3. Child-centred approach

We must work to understand each child holistically including their unique needs, experiences, perspectives and family life. This approach was reinforced by a conference I attended on school absence and mental health by the Nuffield Foundation on the 2nd of July, where we heard from some of the leading researchers and policymakers on this topic, discussing the importance of understanding the complex reasons why a child may be absent from school so that we can help them in the most effective way possible.

4. Attendance incentives

Whether it’s earning money, getting a break from the kids, or a love of the job you do …we all need incentives to get out of the house in the morning – and so do children and young people. The stakeholders suggested that this could be through fun activities such as extra enrichment or sports.

Next steps:

We have a responsibility to use our findings to suggest actionable change. To fulfil this, I am writing a report to be published, including suggested interventions to increase school attendance.

Through the workshop, we identified some key questions for further investigation which I will explore in report:

There is a clear need for a holistic multi-agency approach, how can paediatricians best support or drive this?

How can we support, evaluate and spread effective practice to increase school attendance?

What I’ve learnt:

Take advantage of being at this stage in my life.

SPHR is a vital organisation, aiming to increase the evidence base for inclusive, equitable and cost-effective public health practice. However, one thing I believe they can improve on is communicating with young people. I have come to my internship with a unique perspective, with my feet in both worlds. As a biology student, I understand the intricate science underlying the issues young people face daily. As a student – and still being a young person myself! – I can grasp these setbacks on a personal level. Attending the Hammersmith and Fulham youth council meeting during the internship taught me the importance of those working in public health to not just speak about young people, but to speak to them, not to just use them as a reflection of their research, but to include them in the research.

Setbacks are not really setbacks, just an alternative way of learning.

Cheesy, I know, but trying (and failing sometimes) to write a review on my project taught me many lessons. The plan for my review was chopped and changed so many times – it would be easy to regret that time spent. Yet, I gained countless skills in academic writing and made professional connections across the field.  My review may not be anything like I initially thought it would turn out, but I learnt so much on the way.

Shira with young person using lego to speak about health

Working hand-in-hand with the public

Public policy and engagement cannot be done without engagement! One of my favourite parts of my internship was engaging with the public in the local borough and beyond. My internship was based in the new Mohn Centre for Children’s Health and Wellbeing, Imperial College London, which aspires to create a community-led, transdisciplinary research centre addressing childhood physical and mental health challenges and inequalities. During my internship I assisted with its launch where we hosted a week of activities. This included welcoming over fifty year 2 children from a local primary school to teach them about science and research. We ran a multitude of interactive sessions including the one I led: – making structures out of Lego of places where children feel healthy and safe. I also hosted an engagement stall during the launch week, explaining our research to everyone from university students to professors, helping me to collate my knowledge, making sure I was clear on the facts and teaching me how to explain science to anyone, no matter their age.

Communication is everything!

During my internship, I understood the role of communication on a new level. At an SPHR away morning with the project I was working on, I learnt the importance of discussion between teams across NIHR and the power of sharing research to have a bigger impact. Attending and presenting at smaller team meetings taught me how essential it is for a team to know each other’s research to allow for collaboration, especially in a world of hybrid working.

Say yes to opportunities

I presented our findings on the topic of school absence and mental health at the monthly “Mohn Mingle”, a networking and research dissemination event, alongside an Education Psychologist at Hammersmith and Fulham Council. We then opened up to the audience to get their suggestions for future directions for research. This allowed me to discuss research findings with academics and colleagues across the university, form interdisciplinary partnerships and receive feedback from a range of professionals to fine-tune my work and its future directions.

Finally, I learnt to always follow my passion

When I left school to begin my biology degree, I was filled with nervous excitement. Excited to learn more about a subject I loved but nervous that I wasn’t doing a vocational degree like some of my friends – where would I end up in three years – yes, with a good degree, but with no future plans?

Three years later I can safely say that I made the right decision. I picked the best modules for my degree and in my spare time, I continued my youth work, leadership training and teaching. I filled my time with things I love and now, I am looking forward to completing my master’s next year followed by a career in public health, focusing not only on the research but the people it affects. I want to use the skills I gained at NIHR to do a master’s in public health followed by a career looking at how public policies affect children and young people and how I can positively impact this.

Shira working with young people using lego