Welcome to this month’s AMPLIFY newsletter! 😊
I hope you’re all doing well and have been enjoying the lovely weather this week! It was so lovely to see some of you at our Co-RISE event this month - thank you for coming to share your views. If you didn’t get the chance to join us for this research event, you can read more about it in this month’s newsletter.
In this issue, we’ll also share an overview of our upcoming sessions and a great selection of opportunities that are available this month across a range of different research projects. We’re also delighted to be able to share some more details about our AMPLIFY celebratory event! Read on for more…
Have a great weekend, and I look forward to seeing you soon!
Warm wishes,
Abi 😊
In this month’s newsletter…
Upcoming Sessions
Researcher Feedback: June
Co-RISE Study Update: Roundtable Event
Monthly Round-up of Opportunities
Ending youth suicide with Campaign Against Living Miserably
The Perceived impact on the Mental Health of Young Women from their Experiences of Sexting
MET TALKS - 100 Youth, One Voice
AMPLIFY Celebratory Event
AMPLIFY Journal Club
Suggestion Box
Upcoming Sessions
We have just one more session planned before our Summer break in August, and I’ve released 2 more spaces for those who would like to join us! Details to sign up are below:
🗓️ Wednesday 17th July (5:30 pm - 6:30 pm): RESCHEDULED Research session - Georgina Hosang
Dr Georgina Hosang has had to take some time off work due to a family emergency. As a result, we will be rescheduling this session and meeting in July. This session will be focused on Georgina’s work on how to measure childhood adverse experiences (e.g. bullying, abuse) and their impact on youth mental health.
☀️ Summer Break (August) ☀️
We will be taking a short break in August and won’t be running any research sessions this month. But don’t worry, there will be lots of other things planned for that time, including training, talks and planning for a very exciting AMPLIFY event (more information below!).
We will be back to normal from September!
Researcher Feedback: June
Earlier this week, we were joined by Dr Tessa Roberts to explore her project on social epidemiology. The aims of this research are to test and evaluate a youth-led partnership model to collect epidemiological data over a long period of time within schools.
Please see the feedback from Tessa below:
“I really enjoyed meeting the group and was impressed by how much everyone engaged with the proposal. The suggestions that the AMPLIFY members offered were extremely helpful in thinking about how to pitch the idea to students and schools, how to ensure its relevance to students, how to recruit participants, and how to conduct the project feasibly within the school system. The group's local knowledge and understanding of student priorities and school structures would clearly be extremely valuable if we get the funding to put the proposal into practice.
In terms of the next steps, I am currently waiting to hear the outcome of the funding application that we recently submitted to the Medical Research Council, and I will update those who have expressed an interest in the study when I receive any news. If we are awarded the funding, then the comments from the group will be used to inform how we set the project up (e.g. how we get partner schools on board, the timing of sessions, how we engage with students within the schools) and I will invite those AMPLIFY members who were interested in getting involved in the study to participate in the coproduction workshops, to shape the development of the participatory methods in the first year of the programme. In the event that we are not awarded the funding (which is more likely!), then we will look for alternative funding opportunities, and when we find a suitable call, I will incorporate the group’s feedback when rewriting the proposal for submission to other funders. In this case, I will invite AMPLIFY members who are interested in being involved in the project to join the research team as youth co-applicants, who will have a role in shaping the proposal.”
If you are interested in getting involved in Tessa’s research or finding out more, please contact Tessa via email (tessa.roberts@qmul.ac.uk)
Co-RISE Study Update: Roundtable Event
As many of you know, we have been running a research project alongside AMPLIFY called Co-RISE (A Co-Designed Guide to Youth Involvement in Mental Health Research with Underserved Communities).
This project aims to develop tools so that the voices and experiences of all young people are placed at the centre of mental health research. We have collaborated with researchers and young people aged 16-25 living in London to develop these tools.
The Roundtable Event
On Monday, the 10th of June, 40 of us (young people, researchers, and youth workers) - including many of our AMPLIFY members - came together to discuss the importance of youth involvement and the ways we can ensure that everyone’s voices and experiences are heard in mental health research. Over the course of the afternoon, we shared findings from the Co-RISE study so far and reflected on the barriers and facilitators of youth involvement in research. We also worked together to co-develop the final resources (e.g. infographic, animation) we will produce as part of this project, with the aim of supporting the involvement of underrepresented young people in mental health research.
During the session, we had a visual artist capture the discussion - check out the final product below to see the key points we discussed:
Our next steps now are to create the resources we co-developed. We will share those with you once they are complete (end of July).
A huge thank you to all our AMPLIFY members who joined us for this event!
⭐️ Monthly Round-up of Opportunities ⭐️
Ending youth suicide with Campaign Against Living Miserably
Deadline 1st July (5pm)
Suicide prevention charity Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) is currently building its next campaign to mobilise society and demand change from the government. The campaign will aim to create a safer society for young people by giving trusted adults the tools to support young people and by adding conversation about suicide prevention to schools.
What is this opportunity?
CALM would like to invite up to 6 people aged between 16-21 to take part in a group discussion around support for young people experiencing suicidal thoughts or in suicidal crisis. The discussion will cover topics such as current available support through schools/ shared spaces and ideas on how young people can be better supported by society and structures like schools. The session will be 1.5 hours and hosted in London or on Zoom depending on participant location.
Participants will receive a £25 voucher as compensation for their time. Participants travelling within London can claim travel, participants outside London will be asked to join a virtual group.
If you are interested in taking part, please fill out the form linked below:
The Perceived impact on the Mental Health of Young Women from their Experiences of Sexting
Deadline 31st July
Sexting and sharing nudes are becoming more common among young people. We don’t really know how different sexting behaviours might affect young women’s mental health. These behaviours include consensual sexting, pressured sexting, being sent unwanted nude pictures.
We are interested in finding out what type of support may be helpful for girls and young women whose mental health may be affected by sexting.
What is this opportunity?
You will be invited to take part in an online focus group through Zoom, so we can hear about your views on sexting and mental health. The online focus group will include other young women between 16-19 years old. The focus group will last for an hour and a half.
Before the online focus group, we will ask for your background information, such as age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, past mental health difficulties, school/college if you are in school, through an online survey website called Qualtrics.
We are looking for young people who fit the following criteria
You identify as a woman or girl
You are aged between 16 to 19
You live in the United Kingdom
We will offer everyone who takes part an Amazon voucher (£25 for 1 hour or £40 for 1.5 hours) to thank you for being involved in the project.
How can I get involved?
If you are interested in this project, please fill in our registration form through the below link by 31st July 2024:
If you have any questions about our study or want to chat about our study, please get in touch with Dr Gloria Cheung at gloria.cheung2@nhs.net
MET TALKS - 100 Youth One Voice
MET TALKS - 100 Youth One Voice is an exciting event happening in person at Urban MBA!
Join us on the 3rd of August for a day filled with engaging discussions , free food , free professional photoshoots , certificates , workshops , and networking opportunities with activists, lawyers and policymakers. This event is all about bringing together 100 young individuals aged 12-25 to share their unique perspectives and create a powerful collective voice.
Get access to exclusive internships , mentoring , and work experience placements
Don't miss out on this chance to directly impact an issue that affects young people and connect with like-minded peers and make your voice heard.
To find out more about the event, and to get your free ticket follow the link below:
Do you know of any other opportunities that might be of interest to AMPLIFY? Please get in touch with Abi so these can be shared in the next Newsletter
⭐️ AMPLIFY Celebratory Event ⭐️
As many of you know, we are looking forward to hosting an event this Summer to celebrate all our work together on AMPLIFY so far. I’m so pleased to be able to finally share some more details about this event!
At the moment, we are hoping to hold this event toward the end of Summer, on Friday 6th September (save the date!). This will be a free event for young people, families, researchers and those working in the community. We want this event to be a celebration of our work and a chance to showcase the importance and impact of including young people’s voices in mental health research.
Event Activities
We have lots planned over the course of the event:
AMPLIFY photovoice exhibition to showcase our experiences sharing our voice to shape research
Photovoice exhibition led by Madi Stephens (PhD Researcher), showcasing the impact of the East London environment on young people’s mental health
Talks by young people in AMPLIFY (you!) about your experiences of being involved (see below for more info, or to get involved)
Talks by those working in the community on the impact of youth voice
Poster exhibition showcasing research happening in East London to support young people with their mental health
Mural wall for all visitors to share their thoughts on why youth voice is important. People will have the option to write their thoughts and draw images.
And more…
We will also provide small refreshments on the day and provide flyers and other AMPLIFY merchandise for those who want to find out more or get involved.
Getting Involved
I’d really love it if you could join me in sharing your experiences of being involved and why you feel it’s important that young people share their voices and shape mental health research.
You could talk about your experience or get creative - write a poem or play music - I’m open to hearing any suggestions! I can pay £25 for all those who get involved as a speaker.
If you are interested in taking part in the event, please email me and explain how you might want to contribute, and we can chat further about how you can get involved.
AMPLIFY Journal Club
Welcome to this month’s AMPLIFY Journal Club! Each month, we will share a different article showcasing the latest research into youth mental health.
Some articles have been published in scientific journals, and some are shared on online websites like theconversation.com, but all come from other mental health researchers working in the field.
As well as sharing the article, we will also include a short summary of the key points that are addressed (so you don’t have to read the whole thing if you don’t want to!)
This month: “Seeing is believing: The effect of subtle communication in social media on viewers' beliefs about depression and anxiety symptom trajectories”
Summary
The study aimed to analyse the influence of social media communications on the beliefs and behaviours of young people seeking help for their mental health.
They explored the impact of social media language on mental health beliefs through an experiment involving participants viewing different kinds of tweets.
Some tweets were written from a growth mindset perspective (your qualities can be changed), and some were written from a fixed mindset perspective (your qualities are fixed).
They assessed participants' immediate reactions to the tweets and the impact on their mental health and help-seeking behaviour.
Key Findings
Viewing social media content from a growth mindset perspective led to more optimistic beliefs about the malleability of depression and anxiety symptoms and the effectiveness of treatments.
Participants in the growth mindset condition reported higher mental health self-efficacy compared to those in the fixed mindset condition.
This study highlights the potential of social media content to shape individuals' beliefs about mental health, suggesting that promoting growth mindset messages could be beneficial for mental health interventions.
What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with their findings? Follow the link below to read the article in full:
Get in touch with Abi (a.c.thomson@qmul.ac.uk) if you have any topics you are interested in that you would like to explore in Journal Club.
Suggestion box
Please feel free to make suggestions about what you’d like to see included in these Newsletters! Please do give feedback about whether or not this newsletter is helpful to receive by completing the poll below.
If you have any other thoughts or suggestions for AMPLIFY, you can submit an anonymous comment to our suggestion box: