Our focus for the cross-disciplinary mental health agenda is public health, prevention and wellbeing. We focus on children for several reasons. The onset of 50% of adult mental health problems is by the age of 14 and so preventative intervention is needed prior to this age (Kessler et al., 2005). Younger children evidence less mental health stigma than older children (O’Driscoll et al., 2012). Schools provide long periods of contact and continuity of peer and teacher relationships. They often engage families from diverse, hard-to-reach backgrounds, providing a structured system to deliver interventions and make assessments; there are opportunities for wider activities in group settings and cross-disciplinary education; early-life interventions are shown to impact on later resilience; and existing nature engagement schemes, and positive psychology approaches are primarily developed in primary schools. Our network will be the first to bring together the necessary cross-disciplinary expertise to build up an integrated approach to theory, research and practice in this burgeoning field, and the track record of innovation in our leadership team and advisory board will ensure a transformative approach.
Our specific research questions will be guided through our stakeholder consultation exercise. However, in summary:
What are the benefits of nature engagement for wellbeing and mental health in children, and are these sustained?
Why and how are the effects beneficial?
How do we best select and measure the benefits?
