MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit

Transdisciplinary Research for the Improvement of Youth Mental Public Health (TRIUMPH)

Childhood and adolescence are key life stages that set the foundations for health in adulthood. However, young people face real challenges to maintain their mental health. They live in an ever-changing environment, driven by changes in technology, communications and the media. Changes that have coincided with an increase in mental health problems, especially amongst girls.

One in ten children and young people experience mental health problems, yet we have few effective solutions for the improvement of youth mental health. Treatment and care, when accessible, treats the problem and not the causes. We believe there is a different approach – one that seeks to understand young people’s strengths, which we can draw on to improve mental health. This approach takes young people themselves as the starting point.

To achieve this, the Transdisciplinary Research for the Improvement of Youth Mental Public Health (TRIUMPH) Network brings together young people, health practitioners, policy-makers and those working with voluntary organisations, with academics from across clinical, social sciences, arts and humanities, design, and computer sciences disciplines. By working together we can find new ways to improve mental health and wellbeing, especially among vulnerable and disadvantaged groups where need is greatest.

TRIUMPH has three research themes (Key groups with the greatest health needs; Social connections and relationships; Schools and other education settings) and three cross-cutting work packages (Partnership agenda setting; Intervention development and co-production; Knowledge exchange and community engagement) that are delivered with partners from across the UK.

TRIUMPH is one of eight UKRI funded mental health networks.

Visit the TRIUMPH website.