Data Resource Profile: Mental Health of Children and Young People (MHCYP) Surveys

Abstract

There is an increasing international focus on mental health, with a particular emphasis on its importance among children and young people.1 Large population-based datasets with robust measures therefore present an important resource for policy and practice-related researchers, particularly if they incorporate longitudinal data. The Mental Health of Children and Young People (MHCYP) Surveys comprise three comparable cross-sectional, population-based surveys that were conducted in the UK in 1999 (n = 10 438), 2004 (n = 7797) and 2017 (n = 9117). They aimed to estimate the prevalence of mental health conditions among school-age children to inform policy, service organization and clinical practice. Each survey involved multi-informant standardized diagnostic assessment of all participating children’s mental health, in a large stratified probability sample. The single-phase approach in such large samples differentiates these surveys from many other large population-based mental health surveys, in which brief screening questionnaires are used to identify those at risk of disorder, who then proceed to a more detailed diagnostic assessment.2 Each survey applied similar methods, which allows comparison across time. All three baseline surveys cover children aged 5–15 years, 2004 also included 16-year-olds and 2017 further extended the age range to include pre-schoolers (aged 2–4 years) and young people aged 17–19 years. The first two surveys were repeated in the same sample after 3 years, and follow-up of the 2017 participants is currently anticipated. An overview of the timeline is provided in Figure 1. Data from the 1999 [https://beta.ukdataservice.ac.uk/datacatalogue/studies/study?id=4227], 2004 [https://beta.ukdataservice.ac.uk/datacatalogue/studies/study? id=5269] and 2017 surveys are available via the UK Data Service archive; data from the 2017 survey requires permission to be granted by NHS Digital before the data can be downloaded [https://digital.nhs.uk/services/data-access-request-service-dars]. Timeline of the 1999, 2004 and 2017 Mental Health of Children and Young People baseline and follow-up surveys. England’s Department of Health and Social Care has provided funding for all the surveys with contributions from the Welsh Assembly and the Scottish Executive as required; the most recent survey was commissioned by NHS Digital. These surveys provide an essential resource for researchers interested in the important and topical issue of mental health among children and young people, given the repeated use of the same methods, the universal application of standardized multi-informant assessment of mental disorder and the availability of longitudinal data. They complement the parallel survey programme of adult mental health that preceded the first child survey.3 For the 1999 and 2004 surveys, the child benefit register was used to develop a sampling frame of postal sectors from Great Britain. Across the two surveys, approximately 10% (901/9000) of postal sectors were sampled with a probability related to size of sector, and were stratified by regional health authority and socioeconomic group within it, which represented approximately 90% of all British children once adjusted for inaccurate or ineligible benefit records.4 The Child Benefit Office contacted parents before their details were passed to the researchers (6% and 9% opted out in 1999 and 2004, respectively; Figures 2 and 3) Productive mental health assessments were completed with 73% and 65% of the original sample in 1999 and 2004, which equated to 83% and 76% of those approached for interview, respectively. Participant recruitment to the Child and Young People’s Mental Health Survey 1999, the subsequent follow-ups. (Full survey involves face-to-face interview with parents and young people aged 11 years+ and a postal questionnaire to teachers with a standardized psychiatric diagnostic assessment to generate ICD-10 and DSM IV diagnoses). Participant recruitment to the Child and Young People’s Mental Health Survey 2004 and the subsequent follow ups (Full survey involves face to face interview with parents and young people aged 11 years+ and a postal questionnaire to teachers with a standardized psychiatric diagnostic assessment to generate ICD-10 and DSM IV diagnoses). Participant recruitment to the Child and Young People's Mental Health Survey 2017. Child benefit was a universal state benefit payable for each child in the family across Great Britain with an extremely high uptake until 2013, when changes made to child benefit eligibility meant it was no longer representative of higher-income households. The 2017 survey therefore used the National Health Service (NHS) Patient Register to provide a direct sample of children based on their age, greatly reducing the sampling of ineligible addresses, saving interviewer time and burden on households without children (n = 9117). The use of the NHS Patient Register meant children under the care of the local autho