Sharon Neufeld1, Peter Jones1, Paul Wilkinson1, NSPN Consortium1,2, Ian Goodyer1; 1Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK, 2Wellcome trust Center for Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK
Recently we have shown that adolescent mental health service contact is related to a reduction in subsequent depression three years later. However, there remain questions as to what mechanisms may drive this effect. Whilst treatment was heterogenous, common features such as listening and being supportive may have had a role. Such qualities are common to supportive friendships and family environments, which have also been related to improved mental health. In a separate longitudinal cohort of adolescents and young adults aged 14-25 (n=2,403), we sought to determine whether current treatment for mental health problems at baseline (T1) was associated with reduced symptoms two years later (T3), and whether this operates by improving social resilience. Participants reported current treatment for any emotional, behavioural, or mental health problems. The outcome was general distress, the general factor from a bifactor model of 118 items from measures of depression, anxiety, antisocial behaviour, psychotic-like symptoms, obsessionality, and well-being. Mediators considered (obtained one year after baseline, T2) were family functioning and friendships. After adjusting for attrition and confounding variables, baseline current treatment significantly predicted lower general distress at T3. Good family functioning at T2, but not friendships, was predicted by baseline treatment. Therefore only family functioning was assessed as a potential mediator of subsequent general distress. This work shows that treatments given may have resulted in improvements in family functioning, and explores whether such improvements subsequently reduce general distress within young people.
