Secondary Data Analysis
Does access to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) impact violent behaviour, criminal justice involvement, and violent incidents in children and young people?
There have been large increases in rates of referrals and diagnoses for mental health difficulties among children and young people (CYP) in the UK. Despite this, the number of CYP seen by Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) has not increased in line with this trend. Mental health difficulties may have impacts across various outcomes, including violent behaviour and criminal justice involvement. Justice-involved children tend to have particularly high levels of mental health needs.
Our understanding remains limited of the implications access to CAMHS has on violent behaviour and criminal justice involvement in CYP. It is also unknown how access to CAMHS and subsequent long-term outcomes intersect with other socioeconomic, demographic, and educational inequalities.
This project will investigate the impact access to CAMHS has on violent behaviour and criminal justice involvement for CYP, accounting for the demographic, socioeconomic and educational profiles of CYP.
The main research questions are:
This study primarily draws on data from the Clinical Record Interactive Search (CRIS) at South London & Maudsley (SLaM) NHS Foundation Trust. It also uses linked Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) records.
Using these datasets, this project will examine the impact of accessing support through CAMHS for CYP on violent behaviour, criminal justice involvement, and violent incidents. It will examine whether any impacts are moderated by CYP’s ethnicity, gender, age, socioeconomic status, safeguarding needs, cumulative risk factors, year of referral, and educational characteristics. It will also investigate, for CYP who receive support from CAMHS, whether changes in mental health mediate effects on violent behaviour, criminal justice involvement, and violent incidents.
Propensity Score Matching will be used to assess the causal impact of receiving CAMHS support on violence and criminal justice involvement, but comparing outcomes for similar groups of children who present with similar mental health needs but do not receive support.
Please refer to the analytical protocol for more details.