The research group is located at the Regional Centre for Child and Youth Mental Health and Child Welfare (RKBU) of Central Norway and the Department of Mental Health, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). The group  has its origins in the prospective cohort study Youth and Mental Health, initiated by Anne Mari Sund (Professor emerita).

The study includes a representative sample of adolescents (N=2464) in Trøndelag county. The participants were followed up at 3 measurement times: in 1998 when they were 13.7 years old (T1), in 1999, when they were 14.9 years old (T2) and in 2012 when they were about 27 years old (T4). In addition, psychiatric diagnostic interviews were conducted with a subgroup of adolescents (n=345) who scored high on depressive symptoms. These were followed up after five years (T3) with new psychiatric interviews. The study as well as previous main findings are described in detail in a cohort-profile article. More on the project - Ungdom og psykisk helse

Activity and thematic area

The research group meets regularly every 14 days. Members of the research group have knowledge and access to several relevant data sets, and will use the research group to share literature, supervise students, discuss their own studies, and establish joint projects. The common denominator is risk and protective factors for mental health – from adolescence to young adulthood (normal population to high-risk, e.g. clinical sample, child welfare sample). Our research group currently has one Ph.D. student, and we are applying for external funding for another Ph.D. student and a postdoctoral position.

Our main goals

1. Contribute to research aiming to improve mental health outcomes both for adolescents among the general/community population, and more specifically for adolescents with experienced mental health disorders or symptoms.
2. Enhance knowledge on the longitudinal impact of mental health from adolescence to adulthood. We also aim to increase and improve research focusing on the transition from adolescence to adulthood, specifically exploring risk and resilience factors.

Objectives and strategies to obtain the goals

1. The YAMH-RG collaborates closely with service-user organizations: Competence Center for Lived Experience and Service Development and Landsforeningen for forebygging av selvskading og selvmord. Service-user involvement contributes to planning studies, advising on recruitment strategies, developing informed consent forms, and other materials for participants. They also assist with interpretation of results and disseminations.
2. Research contributions from the YAMH - RG are of public interest and is disseminated among academic and non-academic audiences. This includes, but is not limited to - research papers, presentations at conferences, sharing of findings on community platforms (i.e. podcasts, web-based materials) and collaborations with organizations offering services or support for youth mental health.
3. The YAMH-RG work towards adding to existing knowledge on youth mental health with current and planned research projects (i.e. Ph.D. and Post Doc projects).
4. Research is conducted with national and international collaboration and input. The YAMH-RG has for example established connections with SINTEF Digital, Department of Health Research, Regionsenter for barn og unges psykiske helse, Øst og Sør, Norwegian Institute of Public Health and the European Youth Suicide Research Network.

The research group on Youth and Mental Health is frequently attends and disseminates at research conferences.