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Supporting children and young people’s mental health

Date

A young person smiling with his hand covering half his face

Our mental health and wellbeing are shaped by many factors, often in complex and interconnected ways. One well-established influence is exposure to very difficult circumstances in childhood, commonly referred to as Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).  

To understand and support young people while they are facing adversity – not just after it’s happened – the ATTUNE project used creative engagement to explore their experiences and the support they need.

Visit the project website

Impact

  • Knowledge discovery: generated new evidence about new ACEs as well as the strengths in navigating life after ACEs, and ways to support them 
  • Policy impact: findings and recommendations were shared with professionals and through government channels.

Key information

  • Major funders: UK Research and Innovation 
  • Partners and collaborators: University of Oxford, Falmouth University, University of Kent, Kings College London, Queen Mary University of London, University College London, University of Greenwich, Centre for Mental Health, Young People Cornwall, Theatre Troupe
  • Disciplines: psychology, psychiatry, health economics, creative arts, epidemiology, digital arts 
  • University of Leeds Investigators: Professor Siobhan Hugh-Jones, Professor Paul Cooke.

Adverse Childhood Experiences

ACEs are potentially traumatic events occurring before the age of 18 and include household adversities (such as parental separation, substance misuse, mental illness, or incarceration), experiences of abuse, racism and bullying, and involvement with child protection systems.

Much of the existing research on ACEs focused on long‑term outcomes in adulthood, rather than how young people experience and make sense of adversity as it is happening, how they get through these challenges, and what support they need to protect their mental wellbeing.

ACEs can be extremely difficult for young people to talk about, making sensitive, ethical and age‑appropriate approaches essential.

Project Attune was designed to understand risk and resilience pathways after ACEs. The project used creative, arts‑based methods to explore how ACEs affect diverse adolescents and young people aged 10–24, what these experiences mean to them, how they navigate adversity, and what genuinely helps.

Young people were involved as co‑researchers at every stage of the project, including contributing to the paper and co-hosting conferences, webinars and podcasts.

Engaging and understanding young people

The project began with a series of trauma-informed, creative workshops across four sites in England, engaging 74 diverse young people to explore lived experiences of adversity and wellbeing. Many participants also created short films sharing their stories in their own words.

Researchers also analysed large national longitudinal datasets tracking young people over time, collectively identifying under‑recognised ACEs (such as the impact of masking among neurodivergent young people and school adversity).

The work highlighted the importance of current and ongoing circumstances, not just past adversity, in shaping young people’s mental health.

Young people consistently emphasised how feeling unsafe, both physically and psychologically, in schools and communities, as well as repeated invalidation from professionals, had an immediate and damaging impact on their wellbeing – often compounding the legacy of ACEs. These were the areas where they most strongly hoped to see change.

Building something better, together

ATTUNE then invited young people and professionals to respond to the findings by co-producing resources that could support positive change.  

In the project’s first co-design stage, ACE‑affected young people and professionals produced Validating Voices, a card- and play-based resource to support public‑sector organisations to work with young people to become more trauma‑informed and psychologically safe.  

They co‑developed a serious game, informed by an evidence review that examined whether digital approaches could support young people’s wellbeing. 

ATTUNE generated new evidence about both the strengths and resilience of young people who have lived through ACEs, and the ongoing risks to their mental health posed by unsafe and invalidating environments.  

The findings have been widely shared, including through contributions to government calls for evidence, to help shift the focus away from simply ‘treating’ mental health difficulties from ACEs, and towards improving the current conditions that continue to harm young people’s wellbeing.

More information