Where we live should be understood as a critical factor in our mental health, not a neutral backdrop, a new briefing from Centre for Mental Health argues.
The briefing – Place, inequalities and children and young people’s mental health – summarises recent research from the University of York and demonstrates how children’s mental health is strongly shaped by where they grow up.
It highlights how mental health inequalities are particularly pronounced in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the country, including parts of the North of England and rural areas, with substantial inequalities often occurring within very small areas. This is driven by poverty, poor quality and insecure homes, access to green space, and access to culturally competent mental health support.
Drawing on research from the Born in Bradford study, it highlights how children living in areas of socioeconomic disadvantage experience substantially higher rates of anxiety and depression, yet are less likely to access timely and appropriate support than children living in more affluent areas. This study has shown how lack of access to reliable transport, language differences, cultural disconnects and complex service systems reduce children and young people’s access to early mental health support, particularly for racialised and low-income families.
The briefing is published as the Government is developing its Mental Health Strategy and Modern Service Framework for Children and Young People, and is about to publish its review into the rising prevalence of mental health problems for children and young people.
Improving children and young people’s mental health requires a shift beyond individual-level interventions and one-size-fits-all approaches. The report calls for policy makers to design services that recognise how children’s mental health is shaped by the environment around them, and invest in long term in approaches that integrate mental health with environmental, education and housing policy.
To reach more children and young people experiencing mental health difficulties, it recommends that support is embedded within settings including schools and trusted community hubs, building on the strong support networks in many local communities that buffer stress and boost wellbeing.
Andy Bell, chief executive at Centre for Mental Health, said: “Mental health is made in communities. The places we’re born in, we grow up in, and we have our families in, profoundly affect our mental health and that of future generations. This research once again shows that investing in communities and creating mentally healthier places is essential to turn around the nation’s declining mental wellbeing. Local councils and strategic authorities are ideally placed to lead the way in creating the right conditions for children to grow up in better health and with stronger prospects.”
Bernadka Dubicka, Chair of child and adolescent psychiatry, Hull York Medical School said “This report highlights what we see day to day in mental health services – the mental health of our children cannot be detached from the world in which they live. The crisis in child and adolescent mental health will not improve until we start to address the circumstances in which children develop. All levels of government must examine the impact of their policies on mental health if we are to reduce these profound environmental inequalities for our children.”
