Child and youth mental health

Putting young people at the centre of transformations in care

Like a kid growing up, the field of child and youth mental health is changing substantially, and CAMH research is contributing on many fronts.

Compared with 15 years ago, there is now widespread public understanding that young people can experience depression and other mental illnesses, and that addressing mental health early is key, says Dr. Peter Szatmari. It has been shown that half of all cases of mental illness begin by age 14. Intervening in childhood and adolescence may prevent mental illness or lessen its impacts over a person’s lifetime.

Even before the importance of child and youth mental health was widely recognized, CAMH was leading research to improve mental health among young people. This work has informed government policies and services, helped pinpoint the biological underpinnings of illnesses, advanced evidence-based treatments and created new types of services.

CAMH scientists, young people and their families are partnering in research and co-designing solutions. These collaborations are having on-the-ground impacts: new youth mental health clinics are opening, offering psychotherapy, employment, education and housing services. As next steps in tailoring interventions to young people, CAMH researchers are conducting studies on matching effective treatments to children with disruptive behaviour, and identifying how autism spectrum disorder differs between girls and boys.

Neuroscientists specializing in children are using increasingly sophisticated, data-driven approaches to integrate analysis of different data types, and are targeting the brain with promising innovative treatments, such as combining brain stimulation therapy and brain training exercises for youth with hard-to-treat depression.

“The transformation in care is happening,” says Dr. Joanna Henderson. “It’s in its early stages, and there’s a long way to go to make sure changes are sustained over time—which is why research and evaluation are so critical.”