🗣️ Recruiting UK undergraduate students - please repost! My third year student, Stan, is looking for university students to take part in an anonymous online survey about attitudes towards individuals with mental health disorders. Sign up here: tinyurl.com/536j5j3t

#MindtheKids pod hosts @drjanegilmour.bsky.social & @umartoseeb.bsky.social are joined by @nhigsonsweeney.bsky.social#MindtheKidsto explore the blurred distinctions between fatigue, tiredness, & executive function challenges, considering how depression complicates these concepts. https://bit.ly/45lt8ZU

🧵 Does harsh parenting raise the risk of self-harm in young people? New review in The Lancet Psychiatry looked across 38 cohort studies on parenting, family dynamics & youth suicide risk. The findings aren’t what you might expect. 👇 #YouthMentalHealth #Parenting #SelfHarm #SuicidePrevention

I cannot convey how pleased I am to say that this paper has finally found a home! It’s so tricky publishing COVID-19 research - everyone is “over it”, and yet there is still so much learning that can be transferred to potential future situations.

After months of planning, yesterday was the launch of the BRIDGE Peer Mentoring Scheme! The half-day workshop was so well-attended, with wonderful engagement from everyone right up until the end. I can't wait to see these global peer mentoring relationships flourish 🤩 @eleanorchats.bsky.social

After an embarrassingly long time spent on my tiptoes trying to put this up…we’re ready! Come and chat with me at D2.043 about the two studies I am conducting with @lucyfoulkes.bsky.social on self-diagnosis. I am also on the conference app if you can’t find me and want to chat! #ESCAP2025

Delighted to have been able to make it to #ESCAP2025 this year! 😍 Amazing weather for it, too! You will find me at the poster stands tomorrow, presenting the postdoc work I’m doing with @lucyfoulkes.bsky.social @escaponline.bsky.social

I’m looking for a small number of secondary schools to help us with a research study exploring self-diagnosis of mental health problems in young people For more info or to express interest, please email @nhigsonsweeney.bsky.social: nina.higson-sweeney [at] psych.ox.ac.uk Or DM us! Thank you 🙏🏼

You have 6 DAYS LEFF to apply to BRIDGE, a 6-month peer mentoring scheme for ECRs to facilitate global collaborations in mental health research! It is free, remote, and focused in skills development, social support, and cross-cultural networking 👉🏽 mentalhealthresearch.org.uk/bridge/

I’ve had lots of messages about my Guardian article, in which I argued we should stop universal mental health lessons in schools. The messages have fallen into three categories, and I’m reflecting on this here because I think it exposes something interesting in the field (and research in general) 🧵

So proud of the @lampresearchuk.bsky.social phd students who presented their work @psychologybath.bsky.social CMHD group today @nataliakika.bsky.social @sophiedallison.bsky.social @emmachubb.bsky.social

You still have 2 and a half weeks to submit your application to BRIDGE - but why not apply early? 👉 mentalhealthresearch.org.uk/bridge/ BRIDGE will begin with a half-day online workshop led by a trained coach foused on peer men toring skills and global collaboratin! How exciting is that? 🤩

The post below says it all! @eleanorchats.bsky.social and I have received some seed funding from the MHR Incubator to pilot a global peer mentoring programme for ECRs (including clinicians!) working in mental health research 🌎 If you are an ECR in the UK, Brazil or South Africa, apply below ⬇️

Another brilliant blog by @emmacsullivan.bsky.social on a very hot topic! 👇

Our Accelerator Awards are open for applications. We’re supporting researchers of Black, Bangladeshi and Pakistani heritage in the UK to undertake activities that put them in a stronger position to reach their next career stage within academia. Learn more and apply by 15 July 2025 ⤵️

⚡NEW PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT PROJECT COMING SOON⚡ How are mental health problems portrayed in TV shows, films and music, and what impact does this have? Does it help us understand better? Can it ever be unhelpful? A new project from Dr Lucy Foulkes & Isaac Winterburn Follow this account for updates!

Very pleased to see this paper published open access in BMC Psychology today, where we interviewed 24 young people to discover their thoughts towards online single-session interventions. It is the FIRST qualitative paper to focus on SSIs in UK-based young people 🤯 doi.org/10.1186/s403...

This paper has now been published 🤠

It's been a little while since I've written a Mental Elf blog, and I found this fascinating qual paper on young people's views of CAMHS on TikTok. Give it a read below 👇

We (@annayahprosser.bsky.social, Nicki Lisa Cole, Tamarinde Haven) are dreaming up an Open Qualitative Research Community. 🤝A co-created space for support & collaboration in open qualitative research 🌍 Focused on the European context (funding, policy) 💖 Open to all 🔗 docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

So inspired by the first day of the Minoritised Life Scientists Future Forum 🙌🏽 it’s reminded me of the importance of goal setting and authenticity, as well as having sponsors who champion your work. A key phrase I’m taking away from today is: what is meant for you won’t pass you by 💡 #MLSFF2025

In sunny Birmingham, ready for the Minoritised Life Scientists Future Forum tomorrow! Big thanks to @wellcometrust.bsky.social for funding this as part of my Accelerator Award - I can’t wait! Anyone else attending? 👀

🌟 Exciting News! Our study on our method of Gillick Competence assessment in online, anonymous surveys is published! Empowering 13-15-year-olds to self-consent could overcome barriers to low risk, impactful mental health intervention research. Learn more: bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/3...

Everyone has something to contribute when it comes to mental health research! Congrats to this team (who met on the GROW programme, woo!) on this paper! 🥳 mentalhealth.bmj.com/content/28/1... Watch this space for a webinar discussing the opportunities in mixed methods #mentalhealth research!

Does anyone know of any good training courses, videos or articles on qualitative framework analysis? Bonus points if it's in the context of psychology and/or mental health! #PsychSciSky #AcademicSky #Qualitative #QualitativeResearch

I didn't realise how much I needed PeCo until I was in it. Not only do you get taught coaching skills vital for professional development, but you also become part of a cohort of ECRs who are going through similar experiences as you. I have made great friends through this programme 😄 Apply below!

✨Announcement time✨ I am over the moon to announce that I have been successful in receiving a £290k @wellcometrust.bsky.social Accelerator Award! Starting in 2026, for 2 years I have funding to research a topic that is close to my heart: help-seeking for OCD among ethnic minority adolescents 🥳

Excited to share a pre-print of the latest paper from the Can We Connect study, where we explore young people’s attitudes towards single session interventions. Despite all the available literature on SSIs, this seems to be the first in-depth, qualitative study! Feedback welcome 👇🏽 osf.io/mz5as

We talk a lot about why adolescent girls report more low mood and anxiety, and why this might be getting worse. But what do girls themselves think might explain this? As you might have guessed, we don’t really know. So, we asked them: doi.org/10.1186/s129... 1/8

Delighted to share our latest study in @jmirpub.bsky.social - rct of a single session self help digital intervention in UK Uni Students.Thanks to my incredible team, incl @nhigsonsweeney.bsky.social @victoriapile.bsky.social et al www.jmir.org/2025/1/e58164 #DigitalMentalHealth #MentalHealthResearch

My PhD student @nataliakika.bsky.social is still looking to recruit parents of teens aged 12-18 years to take part in a 1-hour online interview about looking for mental health information online. These findings will inform intervention development, so we need to close recruitment asap! 🙌

I had such a wonderful time graduating from my PhD last Thursday, and was fortunate enough to be surrounded by my family, colleagues, and some MSc students I got the pleasure of supervising last year. And the best news? I didn't trip on the stage! 🤣

Woke up this morning to some good funding news! 😇 Watch this space, as @eleanorchats.bsky.social and I have a fun pilot project coming up for ECRs!

A great debut blog by Amanda, co-written by the brilliant @louiselasala.bsky.social! I was lucky enough to listen to a talk about this study and Luisa’s broader PhD when she visited the University of Bath - this blog and the paper are definitely worth a read!

So pleased to see this brilliant debut blog by Zoe Firth as the first Mental Elf blog of 2025! 🤩 check it out below 👇

Particularly important @thementalelf.bsky.social blog & worth reading the review also

I’m very surprised to see well-regarded academics advocating for qualitative researchers with different epistemic perspectives to be “driven out” of the field 🤔 and here I was thinking that this variety in opinion and approach was something that made qual so great!

Excited to share our new review on PPI with young people in mental health research, including recommendations for how to conduct co-production and co-design! We also have a response from two young people with experience of collaborating on mental health research. Link to the paper below

NEW ARTICLE: In this short piece, Jack Andrews and I argue that, based on the evidence we now have, the field should move away from universal school-based mental health interventions and focus on more effective alternatives acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... summary thread below:

Interested in mental health/young people's mental health? We have got post doc jobs out to advert now! www.bath.ac.uk/jobs/Vacancy... - this is part of the NIHR award to Bath, and the post doc opportunities are very exciting. Working potentially across work packages and getting training too!

Wanted to highlight what an incredibly useful paper this is by @lucysta02475610.bsky.social @alexandrapike.bsky.social & co on the use of AI in qualitative research: doi.org/10.1177/1609... Invaluable insights, including how to spot AI-generated text & ideas for monitoring! Thanks all! 🙌

Received some amazing news on Monday (more to follow soon!) swiftly followed by a paper I really believe in receiving its THIRD desk rejection. Just another week in academia 😎🤣

If you are a parent of a teenager and based in the UK, please do consider reaching out to Natalia below to take part in her doctoral research 👇 #PsychSciSky #studyrecruitment #researchrecruitment #research

Exciting to see that the website for @josefienbreedvelt.bsky.social's Prevention Matters Lab is finally live! preventionmatters.co.uk I've very much enjoyed being a part of this team as we work on a novel qualitative study exploring young people's attitudes towards risk prediction tools 🧐

The #ErasTour is wrapping up and for Swifties it's leaving a blank space, including @annayahprosser.bsky.social and @katewoody.bsky.social. Drawing on their expertise in identity, events and grief, they're sharing research-based tips to navigate post-tour blues theconversation.com/the-end-of-t...

Feeling super lucky to be in Switzerland for the next few days, delivering a two-day qualitative workshop to PhDs and postdocs at the University of Bern!

📢📢📢 Fully funded ESRC studentship with us here in @oxexppsy.bsky.social focussing on youth trauma and sexual harm with Dr Alex Lau-Zhu, Prof Lucy Bowes and Dr Carmen Chan. Deadline is Jan 3rd (link says Dec 3rd in error): www.granduniondtp.ac.uk/enhancing-ea...

This is easily the most misguided piece of legislation framed as helping young people I've ever read. Like taking your shoes off at the airport, this is theatre, not safety. This is doomed to fail... Families and young people deserve so much better. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Still a lot of space on this starter pack for UK early career mental health researchers - please do reach out if you'd like to be added! 🙌 PhD-inclusive, of course! #PsychSciSky #AcademicSky #PhDSky