Reseach centre will focus on mental health

A PIONEERING research centre focused on understanding and developing new ways of reducing anxiety and depression in young people will open in South Wales.

The Wolfson Centre for Young People’s Mental Health, based at Cardiff University working with Swansea University, will be established with £10m of funding from the Wolfson Foundation.

It will be a dedicated interdisciplinary research centre where experts from both universities will work with Welsh Government, NHS Wales, university health boards and schools across Wales.

The centre will focus on five scientific areas, including examining data that tracks children over time to understand how anxiety and depression develop; consider the role genetic and environmental factors play; develop and test a new intervention to support young people and families where a parent suffers from depression; and look at the role schools play in promoting positive mental health.

Led by experts from Swansea University working jointly with Cardiff University, it will use information uniquely available in Wales to better understand longterm outcomes of those young people who experience anxiety and depression.

All of the Wolfson Centre’s scientific findings will be developed in partnership with young people, practitioners and policymakers and the information generated will be used to shape public health and school policies with the aim of helping promote better mental health in young people.

Welcoming the investment, Cardiff University’s Professor Frances Rice, who will co-direct the new centre alongside Professor Stephan Collishaw, said: “We know that 75% of young people with an anxiety disorder or depression go unrecognised and receive no intervention. The impact on the young person, their families and their life chances can be devastating.

“That’s why we are delighted that the Wolfson Foundation has chosen to make such a substantial investment to establish the Wolfson Centre for Young People’s Mental Health.”