Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics

Child and adolescent psychiatry

child psych team — The Child and Adolescent Psychiatry team

Our research mission is to generate findings that will improve children and young people’s mental health.

Our research

Our research in child and adolescent psychiatry covers four key areas:

Our depression and anxiety research aims to:

examine the causes of depression in young people, assess how depression develops and identify prevention targets

develop early detection, intervention and psych-education programmes in collaboration with young people and practitioners.

Recent discoveries and outputs

Anxiety and irritability as well as social adversity are important routes into adolescent depression and thus prevention targets
Social and life-style factors can help promote resilience in young people at increased familial risk for depression
A digital programme for young people with depression and their families/carers developed in collaboration with young people themselves
Depression and anxiety symptom trajectories from adolescence to mid-life show important developmental changes; this has future implications for stratification.
- Characterizing developmental trajectories and the role of neuropsychiatric genetic risk variants in early-onset depression
- Developmental contributions of schizophrenia risk alleles and childhood peer victimization to early-onset mental health trajectories.

Our research in this area explores development, causes and links with anxiety and depression. We aim to:

examine the natural history, causes and outcomes of ADHD, autism and communication problems from early childhood to adult life
identify ADHD causes and investigate why there are sex differences using genomics and epidemiological designs
investigate severe irritability and why those with ADHD and ASD are at elevated risk for anxiety and depression.

Recent discoveries and outputs

ADHD genetic loading (genetic risk scores) and multi-morbidity (more than one neurodevelopmental problem) predict a persistent ADHD trajectory
Why neurodevelopmental disorders are more commonly diagnosed in boys than girls
A co-produced animation on ADHD for children, funded by the Wellcome Trust (to be released October 2019)
An all-Wales electronic ADHD patient cohort in collaboration with the SAIL Databank at Swansea University
Contribution to the world's largest international collaborative ADHD genetic study, that identified the first ADHD common genetic loci

Our research aims to:

examine the development and outcomes of mental health problems across the life course in population-based cohorts
identify causal environmental exposures using a range of methods and informative designs
explore how genetic risk factors for disease identified in patient studies affect development and the course of mental health problems in the population more broadly
examine trends in the population prevalence of child and adolescent mental health problems, and reasons for these.

Recent discoveries and outputs

Our research aims to:

investigate mental health in young people and their life at school. We collaborate with colleagues in the School of Psychology, DECIPHer and Swansea University
develop new methods of including validated mental health assessments, longitudinal data linkage and secure linkage to electronic health records in school-based research, and testing the feasibility of collecting genetic samples in a classroom setting. We are actively working in this area through the Mental Wellbeing in Adolescence: Genes and Environment Study (MAGES)
identify ways of promoting good mental health during the transition from primary to secondary school and the importance of children’s age within their school year for mental health.

Current projects

Photograph of two boys writing in school

The Cardiff University Mood and Wellbeing Study

Our study aims to improve understanding of the causes of young people’s mental health.

Neurodevelopmental disorders: what happens when children grow up and why

This project is assessing neurodevelopmental problems in a group of around 8,000 adults who have taken part in assessments since they were in the womb.

All Wales Neurodevelopmental Disorder e-cohort

We are using patient data from routinely collected health records to identify predictors of poor outcomes.

Photograph of a research assistant guiding three children on how to provide a saliva sample

Mental Wellbeing in Adolescence: Genes and Environment Study (MAGES)

The Mental Wellbeing in Adolescence: Genes and Environment Study (MAGES) aims to improve understanding of how genes and environment can affect mental wellbeing in young people.

Photograph of adolescent boy accessing MoodHwb on a tablet

MoodHwb: mood and wellbeing in young people

We collaborated with young people and parents/carers to develop a web programme to support young people with their mood and well-being.

Animating ADHD

We are working together with local ADHD parent support groups to develop an animation video for children aged 7-11 years about what it means to have ADHD.

Training and knowledge mobilisation

Our aim is to support and develop talented people, enabling them to become tomorrow's scientists who investigate young people's mental health.

We are embedded within the NHS with strong research, training and clinical links to health boards across Wales. We provide training in youth mental health to undergraduate medical students, specialist doctors in child and adolescent psychiatry and other practitioners.

Our activities in this area include:

helping teaching staff and other relevant professionals understand more about children’s difficulties and the types of support these children may need through our links with the Neurodevelopment Assessment Unit
shaping the way clinical services are configured, for instance in the creation of cross-diagnosis and cross-discipline child neurodevelopmental clinics and the successfully piloting of age 15 – 25 year clinical transition service
contributions via an expert reference group to a national government review on Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service provision and presentation to a sub-committee of MPs at Westminster as part of the Youth Parliament UK campaign on mental health services
Professor Thapar is joint-lead editor of the leading textbook used by practitioners training to specialise in child and adolescent psychiatrists; Rutter's Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Engagement

We actively contribute to public engagement through the MRC Centre, our partnership with the National Centre for Mental Health and by participating in the annual Cardiff University Brain Games.