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Researching the emotional and psychological well-being of young people

Comic Research Database

Ongoing

CONIFAS

CO-production of a Nature-based Intervention For children with ADHD Study
Ongoing

SoundFields

SoundFields aims to utilise a co-design panel (children, parents, and mental health professionals) to develop and evaluate a low-cost implementation of the virtual reality ‘game’ for treatment of auditory hypersensitivity for children with autism. We will then implement user testing and a small scale 10-week longitudinal study.
Ongoing

Safety Nets (Feasibility)

A feasibility study of a community based social prescribing intervention involving combined physical activity and psychoeducation for young people on mental health service waiting lists.

Ongoing

ComBAT

Community-based Behavioural Activation Training (ComBAT) for Adolescents with Depression
Ongoing

Autism Spectrum Social Stories™ In Schools Trial 2 (ASSSIST 2)

Social Stories help children with ASD understand social situations. A Social Story writes the child into a story, and is tailored to giving them social information in a friendly way that helps them understand and learn healthy social behaviours.

Complete

Alleviating Specific Phobias Experienced by Children Trial (ASPECT)

A non-inferiority randomised controlled trial (RCT) comparing the clinical and cost-effectiveness of one session treatment (OST) with multi-session cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in children with specific phobias.
Complete

Investigating SOcial Competence and Isolation in children with Autism taking part in LEGO®-based therapy clubs In School Environments (I-SOCIALISE)

LEGO®-based therapy is a new approach that is specifically designed to make social interactions interesting to a child with autism so that they will not only learn the necessary skills but adopt them in their daily lives.

Complete

Routinely used interventions for improving attachment in infants and young children: a systematic review and comprehensive UK survey

The COMIC team will work with UCL to carry out a comprehensive survey of current practice in the UK. They will then conduct a systematic review of the current evidence around these routinely used interventions.
Ongoing

The White Rose Child & Adolescent Sleep Network

Over the last 10 years there has been a 300% increase in the number of children accessing specialist sleep support from Sheffield Children’s Hospital. The impact of sleep problems in childhood is wide-ranging in terms of physical and mental health, quality of life, behaviour and educational outcomes. Child sleep problems are also associated with poor outcomes for parents and other household members. Promoting healthy sleep is therefore a public health priority. Research investigating potential interventions to promote healthy sleep in children is limited, particularly in school and community settings.
Ongoing

Use of Green & Blue Spaces in Lockdown

We recently completed a survey to find out more about people's use of Green & Blue spaces during lockdown in 2020. Results of the survey are here, and details how to to get involved with a follow-up survey we are completing.

Complete

A Systematic Review of Early Interventions for Parents of Deaf Babies

The Child Oriented Mental health Intervention Centre (COMIC) research team, led by Professor Barry Wright, has been awarded funding by The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to conduct a systematic review of early support interventions for parents of deaf babies.
Complete

Diagnostic Instruments for Autism in Deaf children’s Study

The Diagnostic Instruments for Autism in Deaf children's Study (DIADS) aims to adapt and validate Autism assessment tools to make them more accessible for deaf children and young people.

Complete

MicroRNA Autism Research Study (MARS)

A research study exploring whether microRNAs can be used as a biological marker for autism. MicroRNAs are very small RNA molecules in the blood that are important for how genes express themselves. This is a feasibility trial seeing if microRNAs they can be used as a biomarker for ASD.

Complete

Trial on Improving Inter-Generational Attachment for Children Undergoing Behaviour problems

TIGA-CUB is an NIHR Research for Patient Benefit-funded pragmatic, individually-randomised, controlled feasibility trial that aims to test the feasibility and acceptability of running a large scale RCT of manualised Child Psychotherapy vs. usual treatment for children with treatment resistant conduct disorders. The child psychotherapy manual was written by Child Psychotherapists at the Northern School of Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy (NSCAP).

Complete

Engaging with the Deaf Community: Raising awareness of the British Sign Language Translation of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire

Although there are an estimated 125,000 Deaf people in the UK who use British Sign Language (BSL), there are no child mental health screening instruments accessible to children whose first or main language is BSL. The Strengths & Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is commonly used in the assessment of children’s mental health problems and is available in 60 languages. We translated the SDQ into BSL, for deaf young people, deaf parents and deaf teachers. We seek resources to enhance awareness of the availability of the SDQ in BSL among the Deaf community, with the aim of building confidence in its reliability and increasing its use. By doing so, we aim to enhance access to, and increase uptake of, mental health services among Deaf children and adolescents, ultimately leading to better mental health outcomes among this community.

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Research Themes