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COVID-19 has significant impacts on young peoples’ lives and emotions. Understanding how young people maintain well-being in the face of challenges can inform future mental health intervention development. Here we applied network analysis to well-being data gathered from 2532 young people (12-25 years) residing in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic to identify the structure across well-being and crucially, its central defining features. Gender and age differences in networks were also investigated. Across all participants, items emerged in two clusters: 1) optimism, positive self-perception, and social connectedness, and 2) processing problems and ideas. The two central features of well-being were: “I’ve been dealing with problems well” and “I’ve been thinking clearly”. There were minimal age and gender differences. Our findings suggest that the perception of being able to process problems and ideas efficiently could be a hallmark of well-being, particularly in the face of challenging circumstances. These findings contrast with pre-pandemic studies that point to positive affect as central aspects of well-being networks. Future interventions that encourage problem-solving and mental flexibility could be useful in helping young people maintain well-being during times of stress and uncertainty.

Background Difficulties with prospective mental images are associated with adolescent depression. Current treatments mainly focus on verbal techniques to reduce negative affect (e.g. low mood) rather than enhancing positive affect, despite anhedonia being present in adolescents. We investigated the concurrent relationships between the vividness of negative and positive prospective mental imagery and negative affect and positive affect; and examined whether negative and positive prospective mental imagery moderated the impact of recent stress (COVID-19-linked stress) on negative and positive affect. Methods 2602 young people (12–25 years) completed the Prospective Imagery Task and self-reported on symptoms of negative affect, anhedonia and COVID-19 linked stress. Results Elevated vividness of negative future mental imagery and reduced vividness of positive future mental imagery were associated with increased negative affect, whereas only reduced vividness of positive future imagery was associated with increased symptoms of anhedonia. Elevated vividness of negative future images amplified the association between COVID-19 linked stress and negative affect, while elevated vividness of positive future images attenuated the association between COVID-19 linked stress and anhedonia. Conclusions Future mental imagery may be differentially associated with negative and positive affect, but this needs to be replicated in clinical populations to support novel adolescent psychological treatments.

© 2021 Shukla, Pandey, Singh, Riddleston, Hutchinson, Kumari and Lau. The COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented stress to young people. Despite recent speculative suggestions of poorer mental health in young people in India since the start of the pandemic, there have been no systematic efforts to measure these. Here we report on the content of worries of Indian adolescents and identify groups of young people who may be particularly vulnerable to negative emotions along with reporting on the impact of coronavirus on their lives. Three-hundred-and-ten young people from North India (51% male, 12–18 years) reported on their personal experiences of being infected by the coronavirus, the impact of the pandemic and its' restrictions across life domains, their top worries, social restrictions, and levels of negative affect and anhedonia. Findings showed that most participants had no personal experience (97.41%) or knew anyone (82.58%) with COVID-19, yet endorsed moderate-to-severe impact of COVID-19 on their academics, social life, and work. These impacts in turn associated with negative affect. Participants' top worries focused on academic attainments, social and recreational activities, and physical health. More females than males worried about academic attainment and physical health while more males worried about social and recreational activities. Thus, Indian adolescents report significant impact of the pandemic on various aspects of their life and are particularly worried about academic attainments, social and recreational activities and physical health. These findings call for a need to ensure provisions and access to digital education and medical care.

Acute mental health inpatient wards have been criticized for being nontherapeutic. The study aimed to test the feasibility of delivering a psychologically informed intervention in these settings. This single-arm study evaluated the feasibility of clinical psychologists delivering a ward-based psychological service model over a 6-month period on two acute mental health wards. Data were gathered to assess trial design parameters and the feasibility of gathering patient/staff outcome data. Psychologists were able to deliver key elements of the intervention. Baseline staff and patient participant recruitment targets were met. However, there was significant patient attrition at follow-up, with incorrect contact details on discharge being the primary reason. Implementation of a ward-based psychological intervention appears feasible when implemented flexibly. It is feasible to recruit staff and patient participants and to collect staff outcome measures over a 6-month period. However, greater efforts need to be taken to trace patient movement following discharge.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented stress globally. Though less susceptible to severe forms of COVID-19 infection, young people too have suffered psychological impacts. As negative emotions and worries in adolescence can persist, incurring significant healthcare burden, measuring these during the pandemic can signpost later mental health needs particularly in low-resource settings. Here we report on experiences of coronavirus and its’ impact on negative emotions and worries in Indian adolescents. Methods: Three-hundred-and-ten young people from North India (51% male, 12-18 years) were recruited to a longitudinal online survey. At baseline, participants reported on their demographics, personal experiences and knowledge of others infected by the coronavirus, extent of social restrictions, the impact of the coronavirus on various life domains, their top three worries, and levels of negative affect and absence of positive affect (anhedonia). Findings: Most participants had no personal experience (97.41%) or knew anyone (82.58%) with COVID-19 yet endorsed moderate-to-severe impact of COVID-19 on their academic studies, social life, and work. Participants top three worries focused on academic attainments (7.82%), social and recreational activities (6.99%), and physical health (3.98%). More females than males worried about academic attainment and physical health while more males were worried about social and recreational activities. The impact of COVID-19 on social life, family relationship, physical health, emotions, and caring responsibilities associated with negative affect. Lower family income correlated with higher anhedonia as did the impact of COVID on physical health. Interpretation: Indian adolescents report significant impact of the pandemic on various aspects of their life and are particularly worried about academic attainments, social and recreational activities and physical health. These findings call for a need to ensure provisions and access to digital education and medical care. Funding: LR is funded by an ESRC grant to JYFL. TH is funded by Mental Health Research UK. Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics Approval Statement: This study received approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University (Ref No.: Dean/2020/EC/1975) and King’s College London Research Ethics Committee (Ref: HR-19/20-18250).

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented stress to young people. Despite recent speculative suggestions of poorer well-being in young people in India since the start of the pandemic, there have been no systematic efforts to measure these. Here we report on the content of worries of Indian adolescents and identify groups of young people who may be particularly vulnerable to negative emotions. Methods: Three-hundred-and-ten young people from North India (51% male, 12-18 years) reported on their personal experiences of being infected by the coronavirus, the impact of the pandemic and its’ restrictions across life domains, qualitatively described their top worries, and quantitatively reported levels of negative affect and anhedonia. Findings: Most participants had no personal experience (97∙41%) or knew anyone (82∙58%) with COVID-19, yet endorsed moderate-to-severe impact of COVID-19 on their academics, social life, and work. Participants’ top worries focused on academic attainments, social and recreational activities, and physical health. More females than males worried about academic attainment and physical health while more males worried about social and recreational activities. The overall impact of COVID-19 associated with negative affect. Males and those from lower family income reported higher anhedonia. Interpretation: Indian adolescents report significant impact of the pandemic on various aspects of their life and are particularly worried about academic attainments, social and recreational activities and physical health. These findings call for a need to ensure provisions and access to digital education and medical care. Funding Statement: LR is funded by an ESRC grant to JYFL. TH is funded by Mental Health Research UK. Declaration of Interests: We declare no competing interests. Ethics Approval Statement: This study received approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University (Ref No.: Dean/2020/EC/1975) and King’s College London Research Ethics Committee (Ref: HR-19/20-18250).

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose unprecedented threat globally. Adolescents and youth may be especially susceptible to the long-term impact of these stressors, thus intervening early is an important priority. However, it is also crucial to understand how young people maintain psychological well-being in the face of adversity, particularly given that many nations are experiencing further waves of the pandemic. The understanding of such resilient outcomes could inform the development of programs to encourage positive mental health.We explored adolescents' resilience to the COVID-19 pandemic stress by examining core aspects of well-being across countries using network analysis. Using the short Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale, cross-sectional data was collected online from adolescents from India (N = 310; Males = 159, Females = 151, aged 12–18 years), Israel (N = 306; Males = 154, Females = 152, aged 12–18 years) and the United Kingdom (UK; N = 1666; Males = 598, Females = 1068, aged 12–25 years). Two highly similar network clusters were identified for UK and Israel, with three clusters emerging for India. UK and Israeli networks centred on “dealing with problems well” while the Indian network centred on “feeling useful”. As central items highlight aspects of well-being that influence or are influenced by other aspects, these findings may inform interventions to safeguard adolescent mental health during future phases of the pandemic.

This article presents the experience of a qualified psychological wellbeing practitioner (PWP) working in a child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS). It aims to provide insight into adapting the adult Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) model to a CAMHS context and the PWP’s experience of this.