Does a one day stress workshop (Discover) reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression in 16-18 year olds

AIMS OF THE RESEARCH We have developed a workshop programme for 16-18 year olds, called 'DISCOVER'. The 3 key aims of the programme are to i. be accessible to students ii. offer a programme that is helpful and helps students maintain their progress iii. offer good reach so that this low-cost intervention is widely offered This group programme (each for up to 16 students) is a day-long programme with up to 3 phone calls with the workshop leader after the workshop to discuss how students are progressing with their personal goals. We originally tested this programme with a small group of 31 students and found that they reported lower depression and anxiety. We also found that black and ethnic minority students were happy to come. We then ran a larger second study of 155 students and found that students were happy to take part and stay in the study. We also found that the programme was acceptable to students and seemed to help students. We therefore concluded we should run this larger 3rd study in different sites. BACKGROUND TO THE RESEARCH Studies show that the mental health of young people is getting worse. However, specialist mental health services are not large enough and young people are not always keen to seek help from professionals. Further, there are no effective programmes for 16-18 year olds. The Government is aware of the problem and is discussing what can be done. It is proposing to introduce new school-based mental health professionals who would run programmes that have been shown to be helpful. We hope that if this study is successful, DISCOVER could be run by these new school-based professionals. DESIGN AND METHODS USED We want to test the effects of the new programme, DISCOVER, in 4 different areas of the UK (London, Bath, Manchester, Northampton). This 3 year study will involve 60 schools and 900 students. We want to compare the DISCOVER programme with help normally offered in schools. We want to see if the DISCOVER programme will be shown to reduce depression and anxiety compared to a control intervention (normal provision in schools). We also want to test more complex effects like economic costs as well as factors which might affect how well the programme is run (e.g. which school, workshop materials) as this could affect how the programme is normally run in schools. PATIENT AND PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT The DISCOVER programme has been developed from the start with young people. They actually suggested it should be called 'DISCOVER' and advised about the programme and how to deliver it. In this third study, we are collaborating with another group of young people with experience of mental health problems (called Common Room) who will help us in several ways. They will work with students at each site and also help design materials for the study as well as help publicise the results. DISSEMINATION We will write reports for managers in the NHS, schools and colleges and the government. We will also write papers and present at conferences so that other people will learn about this study.