About the Project
The studentship will be based at the University of Bristol’s Medical School, in Population Health Sciences( https://www.bristol.ac.uk/medical-school/research/population-health-sciences/ ).
Bristol Medical School( https://www.bristol.ac.uk/medical-school/ ) is the largest and one of the most diverse Schools in the University of Bristol, with approximately 1100 members of staff, 1350 undergraduate, 250 postgraduate taught and 300 postgraduate doctoral research students. The Head of School is Professor Chrissie Thirlwell. The Medical School has two departments: Population Health Sciences and Translational Health Sciences. The School is a leading centre for research and teaching across these areas. Research in the School is collaborative and multi-disciplinary, with staff coming from a wide range of academic disciplines and clinical specialties.
The student will be part of the Centre for Academic Mental Health( https://www.bristol.ac.uk/psychiatry/ ) with access to a wide range of seminars and research meetings, internationally renowned population health experts and an extensive short course programme( https://www.bristol.ac.uk/medical-school/study/short-courses/ ). This PhD project is embedded within an NIHR funded Mental Health Research Group at Bath University (with University of Bristol and Exeter University as collaborators). Therefore, the successful PhD student will join a vibrant community of researchers and PhD students researching similar topics across the three Universities. Additionally, there will be valuable opportunities for training and networking across University of Bristol, Bath University, and Exeter University.
Background
Exposure to trauma in childhood (for example, abuse, assaultive violence, serious accidents or disasters) is a major contributor to poor mental health across adolescence and early adulthood, with a recent meta-analysis showing the odds of psychiatric disorders to be almost three times higher among those exposed to childhood trauma compared to those unexposed. However, mental health problems are not inevitable in young people exposed to trauma, many exhibit remarkable resilience. Identifying modifiable protective factors (e.g., emotional regulation, cognitive skills, healthy lifestyle, supportive relationships) that can prevent mental health problems in young people exposed to trauma is critical.
Research is needed which takes a life-course approach to examine the impact of childhood trauma on mental health into adulthood, and to identify psychological, social, and environmental mechanisms in adolescence that are protective for multiple mental health outcomes. By identifying the factors that promote resilience in young people exposed to trauma, this research will inform targeted interventions that can reduce the long-term socioeconomic impact of mental disorders.
Aims
The overarching goal of this PhD is to identify psychological, social, and environmental mechanisms that can prevent the long-term poor mental health consequences of childhood trauma using population-based cohorts in the UK. The specific aims are to:
Examine the relationship between childhood trauma and longitudinal change in various mental health problems (e.g., depression, antisocial behaviour, substance use) across adolescence and early adulthood;
Identify modifiable protective factors in adolescence (e.g., cognitive skills, healthy lifestyle) that can reduce the impact of childhood trauma on the continuation of multiple mental health problems into adulthood.
Possible methods
This project will use existing longitudinal population-based cohorts in the UK which have data available on childhood trauma, protective mechanisms in adolescence and mental health across adolescence and early adulthood.
There will be the opportunity to learn advanced epidemiological methods to analyse longitudinal data, for example, statistical methods to examine population change in mental health problems across adolescence and early-adulthood. There are various methods that are commonly used when examining mental health resilience. These often include either selecting a high-risk sample (e.g., those exposed to adversity) and examining protective factors for mental health within this high-risk sample, or examining an interaction between the adversity (e.g., exposure to childhood trauma) and hypothesised protective factors on mental health. In certain situations, these methods can result in bias. This bias can be addressed through using causal inference methods (e.g., counterfactual mediation) to examine how much of the effect of childhood trauma on mental health problems could be eliminated by intervening on a specific modifiable protective factor.
Keywords
childhood trauma, mental health, resilience, mechanisms, epidemiology
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申请要求
Candidate requirements
Applications are sought from high-performing individuals who have, or are expected to obtain, a good degree (UK 2.1 or equivalent) in a relevant quantitative Science or Social Science subject, with a demonstrable interest in the topic.