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

我的研究兴趣是确定为什么有些年轻人的心理健康状况不佳，而另一些却没有。我感兴趣的是找出这些差异的原因，以及心理健康状况不佳对个人和社会的影响。我的研究使用纵向方法，随着时间的推移跟踪同一个人，并将这些方法与社会科学和生物数据（即遗传学）相结合，以确定可以实施预防和干预措施以促进心理健康的发展阶段。抑郁症是最常见的心理健康障碍之一，影响着英国超过十分之一的人。预计到2030年，它将成为全球最大的疾病负担，目前在年轻人口中正在上升。青少年时期的抑郁与较低的受教育程度、较差的社会关系和更高的自杀风险有关。三分之一的抑郁症患者在青春期首次发病，因此及早识别抑郁症的性质和原因可能对以后的生活有很大的好处。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/）减少年轻人抑郁症的重要性。同样，许多慈善机构和政策制定者都渴望进一步了解抑郁症对年轻人的长期影响。该奖学金包含一个跨学科的复杂统计研究项目，使用生物和社会数据（生物社会），旨在进一步加强我们对年轻人抑郁症的性质和背景的理解。这项研究最终将促进个人和社会的福祉。这项研究使用了来自90年代出生的儿童及其家庭的纵向人口队列的大数据，并对其进行了30年的跟踪调查。它将调查抑郁症是如何在人生的重要过渡时期（童年到青春期和青年期，开始中学，离开学校）开始和改变的，以及在这些时期抑郁症对成年后的健康有什么影响。先进的定量方法（AQM）将用于强调这些变化随着时间的推移，并确定特定的风险因素，如童年创伤，父母抑郁和低自尊可能对年轻人的抑郁症产生最大的影响。同样，这项研究也将证明，在青少年发展的不同阶段，抑郁症可能对以后的生活产生不同的影响（比如身体健康状况变差或药物滥用增加）。这里的关键是，像童年创伤、父母抑郁和低自尊这样的风险因素，以及抑郁症本身是可以改变的，但重要的是要知道它们何时以及如何起作用，以便设计及时的干预措施。这项奖学金的中心目标是通过传播我博士期间进行的研究，以及进一步发表我博士期间未完成的两个研究项目和我目前正在研究的一个研究项目，进一步提高我们对年轻人抑郁症的理解。该研究金为利用这一重要和及时的研究提供了一个重要机会，通过高影响力的出版物，向决策者、卫生官员、慈善机构和公众传播，实现最大产出。该奖学金的另一个目标是在AQM的背景下进一步整合社会和生物数据。ESRC以前已经确定AQM在社会科学和卫生领域的使用是一个优先领域，并且还承认在社会科学领域使用遗传数据的研究人员短缺。该奖学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.