Bartnick Christina, Christiansen Hanna, Schneider Silvia
Mental Health Research and Treatment Center (FBZ) Ruhr University Bochum Bochum Germany.
German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), Partner Site Bochum/Marburg Bochum Germany.
JCPP Adv. 2024 Nov 25;4(4):e12293. doi: 10.1002/jcv2.12293. eCollection 2024 Dec.
As summarized by the Lancet Psychiatry Commission on youth mental health (McGorry et al., 2024), the statistics on mental disorders in children are alarming and highlight the need to expand and optimize research on childhood mental health. Although patient and public involvement (PPI) of those affected has the potential to boost both the acceptance and outcomes of research studies, the active involvement of young children, that is, primary school children, in mental health research has been neglected.
Based on the results of our systematic literature analysis of PPI of children in mental health research, the concept development of the Children's Council 'Mental Health' was administered in cooperation with several stakeholders and focus groups (practitioners and researchers in the field of clinical psychology and psychotherapy across the lifespan, representatives from three self-help organizations for mental disorders, children's focus group). The concept was further optimized in collaboration with the German Children's Fund (Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk e. V.).
The Children's Council was successfully founded with five children aged between 6 and 9 years. Participation is positively received, and each meeting is evaluated using visual measurements. The results from the meetings are presented and discussed. They serve as basis for concrete recommendations for involving young children in mental health research.
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first structured approach involving young children in mental health research studies. The main goal of our study is the direct and immediate empowerment of children, in this case primary school children at the age of 6-12 years. This is associated with a child-friendly exchange on topics related to mental health, as well as the enhancement of the education process on mental disorders and prevention.
正如《柳叶刀》青年心理健康委员会（麦戈里等人，2024年）所总结的那样，儿童精神障碍的统计数据令人担忧，并凸显了扩大和优化儿童心理健康研究的必要性。尽管受影响者的患者及公众参与（PPI）有可能提高研究的接受度和成果，但幼儿（即小学生）在心理健康研究中的积极参与一直被忽视。
基于我们对儿童在心理健康研究中的PPI进行系统文献分析的结果，与多个利益相关者和焦点小组（临床心理学和全生命周期心理治疗领域的从业者和研究人员、三个精神障碍自助组织的代表、儿童焦点小组）合作开展了儿童心理健康理事会的概念开发。该概念与德国儿童基金会（Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk e. V.）进一步优化。
成功成立了由五名6至9岁儿童组成的儿童心理健康理事会。参与得到了积极反馈，每次会议都使用可视化测量进行评估。会议结果进行了展示和讨论。它们为让幼儿参与心理健康研究的具体建议提供了依据。
据我们所知，这是让幼儿参与心理健康研究的首个结构化方法。我们研究的主要目标是直接且即时地增强儿童（在本案例中为6至12岁的小学生）的权能。这与围绕心理健康相关话题进行的儿童友好型交流以及加强精神障碍和预防方面的教育过程相关联。
