Examining the aetiology, nature and consequences of depression in young people within a biosocial framework

我的研究兴趣是找出为什么一些年轻人的心理健康状况不佳，而另一些人则不是。我有兴趣找出这些差异的原因，以及心理健康状况不佳将对个人和社会造成什么后果。我的研究使用纵向方法跟踪同一个人一段时间的情况，并将这些方法与社会科学和生物学数据(即遗传学)相结合，以确定可以实施预防和干预措施以提高心理健康的发展阶段。抑郁症是英国最常见的心理健康疾病之一，影响着超过1/10的人。预计到2030年，它将成为全球最高的疾病负担，目前年轻人口的比例正在上升。青春期的抑郁与较低的教育程度、较差的社会关系和较高的自杀风险有关。三分之一的抑郁症患者在青春期首次发病，因此及早确定抑郁症的性质和原因可能对以后的生活有重大好处。改善心理健康研究是ESRC的优先投资之一，政府已经认识到通过制定苏格兰心理健康战略(https://www.gov.scot/publications/mental-health-strategy-2017-2027/).来减少年轻人抑郁的重要性同样，许多慈善机构和政策制定者热衷于进一步了解抑郁症对年轻人的长期影响。该研究金包含一个利用生物和社会数据(生物社会数据)进行复杂统计研究的跨学科方案，旨在进一步加强我们对年轻人抑郁症的性质和背景的了解。这项研究最终将促进个人和社会的更好福祉。这项研究使用了基于人口的纵向队列的大数据，这些队列是1990年出生的S及其家庭，在过去30年中进行了跟踪调查。它将调查抑郁症是如何在生活中的重要转变(童年到青春期和青年时期，开始上中学，离开学校)中开始和变化的，以及这些时期的抑郁症对成年后的幸福感有什么影响。先进的定量方法(AQM)将被用来强调这些随着时间的推移而发生的变化，并确定特定的风险因素，如童年创伤、父母抑郁和低自尊等何时对年轻人的抑郁产生最大影响。同样，这项研究还将表明，青年发展的不同阶段的抑郁可能对晚年生活的不同结果(如身体健康较差或药物滥用增加)具有重要影响。这里的关键点是，像童年创伤、父母抑郁和低自尊这样的风险因素以及抑郁本身是可以改变的，但重要的是知道它们何时以及如何起作用，以便设计适当的干预措施。这一奖学金的核心目的是通过传播我在博士期间进行的研究，以及进一步发表两个在我博士期间没有完成的研究项目和一个通过我目前的研究，进一步增强我们对年轻人抑郁的理解。这一奖学金提供了一个重要的机会，可以利用这一重要和及时的研究，通过高影响力的出版物，向政策制定者、卫生官员、慈善机构和普通公众传播，以最大限度地提高产出。ESRC此前已将AQM在社会科学和卫生领域的使用确定为优先领域，并承认在社会科学中使用基因数据的研究人员短缺。这一研究金将有助于发展这一框架，并为培训下一代社会科学家和研究人员使用生物社会AQM提供一个平台。

My research interests are identifying why some young people go on to have poor mental health, whilst others do not. I am interested in identifying the causes of these differences and what the consequences of poor mental health will be for individuals and society. My research uses longitudinal methods that track the same individuals over time and combines these methods with social science and biological data (i.e., genetics) to identify stages of development where preventions and interventions could be implemented to boost mental wellbeing.Depression is one of the most common mental health disorders affecting over 1 in 10 people in the UK. It is expected to be the highest global burden of disease by 2030 and is currently rising in young populations. Depression during adolescence is associated with lower educational attainment, poorer social relationships and increased risk of suicide. One third of individuals with depression first develop onset in adolescence so identifying the nature and causes of depression early could have major benefits in later life. Improving mental health research is one of the ESRC's priority investments and the government has recognised the importance of reducing depression in young people through the development of the Scottish Mental Health Strategy (https://www.gov.scot/publications/mental-health-strategy-2017-2027/). Likewise, many charities and policy makers are keen to further understand the long-term impact of depression in young people. This fellowship contains an interdisciplinary programme of complex statistical research using biological and social data (biosocial) designed to further enhance our understanding of the nature and background of depression in young people. This research will ultimately facilitate better wellbeing for individuals and society.This fellowship uses big data from a longitudinal population-based cohort of children born in the 1990's and their families, followed up over the last 30 years. It will investigate how depression starts and changes through important transitions in life (childhood to adolescence and young adulthood, starting secondary school, leaving school), and what the impact of depression during these periods has on wellbeing in adulthood. Advanced Quantitative Methods (AQM) will be used to highlight these changes over time, and identify when specific risk factors like childhood trauma, parental depression and low self-esteem could be having their greatest effect on depression in young people. Likewise, this fellowship will also demonstrate that depression at different stages of youth development could be important for different outcomes in later life (such as poorer physical health or increased substance misuse). The key point here is that risk factors like childhood trauma, parental depression and low self-esteem, as well as depression itself are modifiable, but it is important to know when and how they operate in order to design well timed interventions.The central aim of this fellowship is to further enhance our understanding of depression in young people through the dissemination of research conducted within my PhD and the further publication of two research projects that were not completed during my PhD and one through my current research. This fellowship provides a critical opportunity to capitalise on this important and timely research for maximum output through high impact publications, dissemination to policy makers, health officials, charities and the general public.A further aim of this fellowship is to further integrate social and biological data within the context of AQM. The ESRC has previously identified the use of AQM in social sciences and health as a priority area, and also acknowledged there is a shortage of researchers using genetic data within social sciences. This fellowship will help develop this framework and provide a platform for training the next generation of social scientists and researchers in the use of biosocial AQM.