Understanding and enhancing mental health competence - a promising new approach to improving lives for young people

英格兰2012年和2013年年度报告的首席医疗官承认促进年轻人心理健康的重要性，而不是关注心理健康问题。积极心理健康的一个概念是心理健康能力（MHC）。MHC包括与他人沿着和照顾他人的技能，以及管理情绪和行为的能力。通过以学校为基础的方案改善MHC可能会带来好处，从减少危险行为，如药物使用到提高学校成绩。随着年轻人步入成年，MHC技能也是快速变化的劳动力市场的资产，并作为积极的公民参与社会。有很好的证据表明，MHC的关键元素在儿童和青少年时期是开放的。我们知道，学校的社会和情感学习（SEL）计划可以对MHC的各个方面产生持久的影响，包括社交技能和亲社会性。我们的长期目标是加快MHC干预措施的发展，以改善年轻人的生活。然而，在MHC计划准备实施和评估之前，还有一些知识空白。我们的提案将建立合作，通过3个相关的工作包（WP）开始填补这些空白。WP 1.与年轻人，从业者（卫生和教育）和政策利益相关者合作，进一步发展MHC概念我们将与年轻人和来自卫生，学校和政策环境的利益相关者合作，定义和发展MHC概念，并规划WP 2和3。多年来，我们的工作包括与国家儿童局的青年研究顾问进行协商。我们将与YRA合作，将工作建立在生活经验的基础上，将MHC转化为一个对年轻人和学校有意义的概念，并具有真实的干预潜力。第二，我们将召集一个利益相关者网络，进一步发展MHC概念和干预措施。我们还将讨论将干预措施转化为实践的问题。WP 2.确定以学校为基础的干预类型，以确定有可能修改MHC的候选干预措施的范围加快MHC相关干预措施发展的一种方法是确定现有的有效的学校计划，围绕学习，心理健康和福祉可以或可能影响MHC。我们将检查最近的证据审查，以确定哪些理论或证据表明可能影响MHC的干预措施，以及MHC的变化可能构成干预措施效果的一部分。在本WP中，我们将重新分析一种干预措施（SEL）的数据。INCLUSIVE试验包括SEL元素，显着减少了欺凌和物质使用，改善了年轻人的心理健康，福祉和生活质量。我们将研究这些益处是否与MHC的改善有关。WP 3.调查MHC在人群水平上改善结果的潜力我们将通过模拟MHC改善对年轻人关键结果的可能影响，来确定围绕MHC的干预措施改善青少年健康的潜力。我们的方法评估潜在的国家干预措施，随机试验是不可行的或没有发生。我们将利用英国千年队列研究进行一项试点模拟，评估在11岁（过渡到中学）时改善MHC对欺凌，心理健康，吸烟和饮酒以及14-16岁的学术成就的影响。三个工作计划的结果将由YRA和网络成员整合，并用于规划未来的工作，包括评估试验数据，模拟MHC干预措施，开发未来的干预试点，以及传播有关实践中实施干预措施的见解，总体目标是改善年轻人的健康和福祉。

BackgroundThe Chief Medical Officer for England's Annual Reports 2012 and 2013 acknowledged the importance of promotion of mental health in young people, rather than focusing on mental health problems. One conceptualisation of positive mental health is mental health competence (MHC). MHC includes skills for getting along with and caring for others, as well as the capacity to manage emotions and behaviour. Improving MHC through school-based programmes may lead to benefits, ranging from reductions in risky behaviours such as substance use to higher school achievements. As young people move into adulthood, MHC skills are also assets in a rapidly changing labour market and participating as active citizens in society. There is good evidence that key elements of MHC are open to change in childhood and adolescence. We know that social and emotional learning (SEL) programmes in schools can achieve lasting effects on aspects of MHC, including social skills and prosociality. Our long-term aim is to accelerate the development of MHC interventions to improve young people's lives. However, there are a number of knowledge gaps before MHC programmes are ready to implement and evaluate.Our proposal will establish a collaboration to begin to fill these gaps through 3 related workpackages (WP). WP1. Working with young people, practitioners (health and education) and policy stakeholders to further develop MHC concepts We will work with young people and stakeholders from health, school and policy settings to define and develop MHC concepts and plan WP2&3. Over many years, our work has included consultations with Young Research Advisors (YRAs) from the National Children's Bureau. We will engage with YRAs to ground the work within lived experiences, transforming MHC into a concept with meaning for young people and schools and real potential for interventions. Second, we will convene a stakeholder network to further develop MHC concepts and interventions. We will also discuss issues with translating interventions into practice. WP2. Scoping school-based intervention typologies to identify candidate interventions with potential to modify MHC One way to accelerate development of MHC-related interventions is to identify which existing effective school programmes around learning, mental health and wellbeing can or might influence MHC. We will examine recent evidence reviews to identify those interventions which theory or evidence suggests are likely to influence MHC and where changes in MHC may form part of the intervention's effects.In this WP we will re-analyse data from one type of intervention (SEL). The INCLUSIVE trial included SEL elements and significantly reduced bullying and substance use and improved mental health, wellbeing and quality of life in young people. We will examine whether these benefits related to improvements in MHC. WP3. Investigate the potential for MHC to improve outcomes at a population levelWe will scope the potential for interventions around MHC to improve adolescent wellbeing by simulating the likely effect of improvements in MHC on key outcomes in young people. Our method evaluates potential national interventions where randomised trials are unfeasible or have not taken place. We will undertake one pilot simulation using the UK Millennium Cohort Study, assessing the impact of improving MHC at age 11 years (the transition to secondary school) on bullying, mental health, smoking and drinking and academic attainments at age 14-16 years. Findings from the three WPs will be integrated by YRAs and members of the network and used to plan future work, including evaluations of trial data, modelling MHC interventions, development of future intervention pilots, and disseminating insights about implementation of interventions in practice, with the overall aim to improve health and wellbeing in young people.