{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/674afe22d67d53d9b3d59423/69091cb0471525d352c44812?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"Tracking 50,000 Teenagers: What We're Learning About Adolescent Mental Health ","description":"<p>Our guest this episode is Professor John Gallacher, professor of cognitive health at Oxford University and Director of BrainWaves, the UK's largest cohort study focused specifically on adolescent mental health.</p><p><br></p><p>What makes this research remarkable isn't just its scale (30,000 16-year-olds, expanding to 50,000+ by 2026), but its fundamental approach: shifting from clinical intervention to population-level wellbeing.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Key themes we explore:</strong></p><ul><li>Why BrainWaves focuses specifically on 16-year-olds and the vision for this lifetime study</li><li>The surprising parallel impact of social media use on both boys and girls</li><li>How the decisions we make in adolescence have lifetime consequences for our health and wealth futures</li><li>The straightforward equation: help everyone feel a bit better, and you reduce the proportion who need specialist help</li><li>Why presenting young people with evidence empowers them to make good choices</li><li>How BrainWaves is developing educational resources and teacher training</li><li>The multi-agency collaboration model that makes research at this scale possible</li><li>An important reminder: the vast majority of young people are not suffering from dire mental health issues</li></ul><p><br></p><p>John's belief that young people are agents, not passive victims, runs throughout our conversation. When given evidence rather than lectures, they make good choices.</p><p><br></p><p>His advice for anyone worrying about the future? Love yourself.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Find out more:</strong> brainwaveshub.org</p><p>For more information about working with Cathy, visit <a href=\"cathywalkerconsulting.uk\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">cathywalkerconsulting.uk</a>.</p>","author_name":"Cathy Walker"}