Tailoring preventative psychological therapies to young people with mental health conditions

Led by Dr Josefien Breedvelt at King’s College London

One in five young people in the UK experience a mental health condition, with depression and anxiety being the most common conditions. It remains very challenging to identify and implement preventative psychological therapies that can help to prevent a full diagnosis of these conditions. We don’t yet know who these preventive treatments work best for, and why they do or do not work.

Dr Josefien Breedvelt and her team at King’s College London focus on exactly these questions, specifically how they can improve preventative psychological therapies for young people. So far, they have brought together data from other published studies to examine whether preventative therapies work for both the onset and relapse of depression and anxiety, and to see who they work best for.

Josefien has also worked closely with GPs and the public to understand the barriers to putting prevention into practice, and to make sure young people are involved in research. Her work has helped shape clinical guidelines, informed public health campaigns, and been shared in podcasts, blogs, and animations to make her research findings more accessible to all.

With their Foundation funding, the researchers will identify what the key driving factors are that make preventive interventions effective or ineffective for individuals, as well as sometimes even harmful for some. The ultimate aim of this research is to illuminate individual differences in preventive interventions, so that young people can receive the tailored support that is most effective for them.