Welcome to this AMPLIFY newsletter! 😊
I hope that everyone is having a great start to the week. We are back with another newsletter after a short break in October following a very successful and enjoyable AMPLIFY event (more details below!)
In this issue, we’ve got lots of exciting research and involvement opportunities to share with you. We’ve also included links to sign up for the remaining AMPLIFY sessions we have planned this year! Our next session will be on Thursday 28th November so do sign up if you are available!
Also, read on for details of a free workshop that Laura is offering to the group. At this stage, we are just getting an idea of interest, so complete the polls if you would like to attend!
Have a great week, and I look forward to seeing you in our next session!
Warm wishes,
Abi 😊
In this month’s newsletter…
Upcoming Sessions
AMPLIFY Celebratory Event
Workshop Opportunity - Understanding Constructs in Mental Health
Monthly Round-up of Opportunities
Compass Project - Toynbee Hall
Understanding Loneliness in Young People
The Good Measure Research Project
AMPLIFY Journal Club
Suggestion Box
Upcoming Sessions
🗓️ Thursday 28th November (5:30 pm - 6:30 pm): Research Session - Irene Gonzalez Calvo
In this research session, we will be joined again by Irene to discuss her research on childhood trauma and hypomania. We will be discussing the results of this study so far and what these findings might mean for young people. More details to follow closer to the time, but do follow the link below to register your spot today!
🗓️ Thursday 12th December (5:30 pm - 6:30 pm): Research Session - Dr Laura Havers
In this research session, we will be visited again by Laura to discuss a research proposal she is developing. More information to come next month, but if you’d like to reserve a spot you can follow the link below to sign-up.
As this is our last session of the year, there will also be additional time to catch up and celebrate together at the end.
AMPLIFY Celebratory Event 🎈🎉
I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who joined us on the 4th of October for our AMPLIFY event!
It was a great afternoon, with lovely food, posters and talks about all things youth involvement in mental health research. A special thank you to our organising committee, who helped shape the event and make it such a success, and to our speakers who shared their experiences of being involved in mental health research and who spoke about why youth voice is so important.
We hope to share pictures from the event very soon and look forward to celebrating in the community again in the future.
Workshop Opportunity - Understanding Constructs in Mental Health
Dr Laura Havers is offering a FREE workshop to anyone from AMPLIFY who wants to learn more about mental health and the key constructs that make up research. Details below:
Title: An Introduction to Thinking About Constructs and Measurement in Psychology
Abstract: In psychology, we are fundamentally interested in understanding human behaviour (actions) and mental processes (thinking). To understand these things, we need to be able to measure them in some way. There are a range of ways that behaviour and thinking are measured in psychology. In this workshop, we will focus on quantitative measurement (i.e. using numbers to understand what people do and say). We will talk about constructs (things), how we can measure those constructs and the importance of measuring what we think we’re measuring. This workshop will provide an introduction to thinking about constructs and measurement in psychology and, importantly - why these things are so fundamental to psychology as a field of study.
Please complete the poll questions below, so we have an idea of numbers:
If you answered “yes” to the above poll, please indicate your availability below:
One more question!
⭐️ Monthly Round-up of Opportunities ⭐️
See below for this month’s monthly round-up of research and involvement opportunities.
Compass Project - Toynbee Hall
Check out this brilliant opportunity to connect with the community in a series of well-being sessions in Tower Hamlets. Sessions include:
Games and activities
Food sharing
Emotional Wellbeing Workshops
Follow the link below to find out more and sign up today!
Understanding Loneliness in Young People
Earn £20 for taking part in this study. The deadline to apply is the 8th of December 2024
We are looking to interview young people (aged 18-24 years) to discuss their experiences of loneliness. The interview will last between 60 to 90 minutes and will be conducted either in person at Queen Mary University, if convenient, or online via Zoom. We are eager to hear from people with a range of different life and loneliness experiences. You will receive a £20 voucher for your time.
What: Register your interest via a brief survey and if eligible you will be invited to take part in an interview (between 60 to 90 minutes).
Where: The interview will be conducted either in person at Queen Mary University of London, if convenient and you live in Greater London (within M25), or online via Zoom.
Eligibility: You must be aged 18-24 and have experienced loneliness.
How: Follow the link below to register your interest and we will be in touch with you soon with upcoming interview times.
The Good Measure Research Project
The Good Measure project is looking for people aged 14-19 to take part in an online survey.
Current surveys on adolescent mental health often skip over questions on sex and sexuality, even though these topics matter to young people. Help researchers to ask questions that are relevant and meaningful to young people.
Take part in our anonymous 10-minute survey and enter a prize draw with the chance to win £50! No experience is needed.
What is the Good Measure project about?
The Good Measure project is a UKRI funded research study that aims to advance understanding of the links between adolescent sexuality development and mental health and wellbeing. Sexuality development in adolescence is normal and healthy but can also involve difficult and harmful experiences, thoughts and feelings including shame and stigma. Despite sex and sexuality being a key element of many young people’s lives, there is very little research addressing links between young people's sexual lives and their mental health. Many adolescent health surveys include just one or two questions on sex - usually age at first sex - or none at all. The Good Measure project aims to change this by developing a brand-new set of survey questions to measure young people’s ‘sexual wellbeing’.
Survey questions on sexual wellbeing
Using data from workshops and interviews with young people, and building on our previous work in the Natsal study, we have developed and tested a new series of survey questions on young people's thoughts and feelings about sex. The next stage is testing these survey questions with a diverse range of young people aged 14-19 from across the UK to make sure they are relevant and meaningful.
You can find more information about the Good Measure project at www.glasgow.ac.uk/goodmeasure. If you have any further questions or would like to see a full copy of the survey questions, please get in touch with us at goodmeasure@glasgow.ac.uk.
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 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: “Alexithymia: why some people find it so hard to identify emotions, and how this affects them”
This article from theconverstation.com explores alexithymia - a phenomenon where people struggle to identify, distinguish, and express emotions, affecting their emotional regulation and interactions with the world.
Summary
This article outlines what alexithymia is, and how it manifests
Alexithymia affects around 10% of the general population. It is closely related to interoception, the ability to interpret and label internal states.
Some people have always had alexithymia whereas others acquire it through trauma
One characteristic of alexithymia is an externally oriented thinking style. This is where people focus on what’s happening around them rather than their own emotional processes for information
Alexithymia affects how a person experiences and interprets emotions, from noticing physical sensations in the body to identifying them as specific feelings and deciding how to respond
The article concludes by highlighting that emotional awareness can be developed and improved over time with strategies such as practising naming emotions and physical sensations.
What do you think? Did you learn anything new from reading this article? 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: