Title
Alcohol Consumption and Mental Health Literacy in Young People
Project Description
According to the Global Drug Survey, nearly half of young people with existing mental health conditions increased their alcohol consumption during COVID-19 lockdown. Reasons for this included feeling depressed and anxious. Drinking for coping reasons is associated with long term problems (Holahan et al, 2001), and a vicious circle of excessive drinking and poor mental health.
Mental Health Literacy (MHL) includes understanding how to obtain and maintain positive mental health, knowledge of help-seeking options, and decreasing stigma. Higher levels of MHL may be linked to lower levels of mental ill health, and may serve to encourage more healthy coping strategies. However, the field of MHL is currently characterised by “conceptual confusion and methodological inconsistency” (Mansfield et al, 2020, p11) and many interventions to improve MHL lack a theoretical basis, and focus on mental ‘disorder’ rather than mental ‘health’.
This studentship will involve initial scoping research to inform the development of an intervention, which focuses on the potential of improving MHL. This work could start by exploring the relationship between MHL, alcohol consumption and coping strategies. Our research group values co-production and employs systematic frameworks in intervention development.
The successful application will join the Children and Young People Network at Oxford Brookes.
As part of their Studentship, any successful applicant will be required to undertake up to 6 hours undergraduate teaching a week during semesters without further remuneration. Training will be given.