Rapid knowledge mobilisation to promote adolescent mental health in the era of COVID-19

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During the COVID-19 pandemic young people have been exposed to established risk factors for psychopathology and have been struggling to access support from schools and CAMHS. Existing psycho-educational materials typically targeted parents to deliver support to their children or adolescents. This passive transfer of information is unlikely to work well with older adolescents (14-24 years), who progressively separate from their parents and strive to gain agency. To support young people's mental health, we will co-produce novel, engaging psycho-educational materials with adolescents and creative professionals, and rapidly disseminate them widely across the UK. First, we will capitalise on the wealth of data emerging from ongoing longitudinal surveys to capture young people's voices about their mental health concerns and on our expertise in identifying and delivering evidence-based interventions. Second, we will work with young people to prioritise the mental health concerns and to ensure that the content built from evidence-based interventions is clear and relevant. We will then work with young people and creative professionals to produce the materials in the most engaging way. Third, we will disseminate the materials produced widely thought social media campaigns and our established links with voluntary organisations across the UK. The materials will also be disseminated across all devolved nations in partnership with local senior clinicians. This work will be responsive to the changing mental health needs of young people in the months ahead. We have also ensured that content development, production, and dissemination can be undertaken both in-person or remotely, maximising feasibility.