Queen's University Belfast

Academic Institute

Aideen Maguire

E030

Early life influences are a known predictor of adult health outcomes with a growing body of evidence suggesting that adverse childhood experiences such as abuse/neglect have a negative impact on mental health. But few studies exist examining the long-term impact of these experiences on adult mental health outcomes. In 2015 around 5% of young people in Northern Ireland (aged 0-18yrs) were known to social services as a child in need, with 2,875 in the care of the Health and Social Care Trusts (a 'looked after' child) and 1,969 on the Child Protection Register at risk of abuse/ neglect. Half of 'looked after' children report some form of mental health difficulty compared to just 10% of children not in care, but very little is known on what becomes of these children after they leave the care of social services. It is vital to understand the long-term outcomes of adverse childhood experiences so policy makers can target interventions effectively to reduce childhood mental health difficulties and thus reduce poor adult mental health outcomes. Northern Ireland is unique as it has an integrated health and social care system, holding data centrally on all individuals known to social services since 1985. This project will utilise 30 years􀂶 worth of de-identified social services data from the Social Services Client Administration and Retrieval Environment (SOSCARE) linked to medication data, hospital records and death records to create the UKs first historical, population-wide cohort studying the long-term mental health outcomes of children known to social services.

The proposed research represents one of the most ambitious record linkage projects undertaken within the Honest Broker Service to date and will set a precedent for the health and social sciences research community. It will open up access to the SOSCARE data as a resource for other researchers across academia and the HSC. The ability to link and analyze administrative datasets relating to historical data on children known to social services offers great potential for understanding the population dynamics underlying variation in mental health outcomes in adulthood. The range of disciplines reflected in this research and likely to benefit from the data resource created includes social sciences, geography, demography, psychiatry and population health sciences. Improving outcomes for children from adverse backgrounds, including those in the care of social services, is a key priority of the Department of Health (DoH) and is core to their 'Early Intervention Transformation Programme' (EITP). With a paucity of research in this area, this project will provide unique population-wide information on the effect of being known to social services in childhood on adult mental health outcomes, providing insights into resilience, critical periods and care pathway effects. The research will indicate potential predictors of both poor and good adult mental health outcomes which could be used to target resources and interventions toward those most in need. The DoH considers that this project will be of particular use in informing future Programmes for Government and future legislation and policy relating to children and families in need, Looked after Children, children on the Child Protection Register and those young people leaving care. In a letter of support attached to this application the DoH state that “little is known as to what becomes of children once they leave the social care system and this project will be an invaluable resource into understanding the long-term outcomes of adults in Northern Ireland who were known to social services as children.”

25/05/2018

TRE