Due to the recent developments, this event has been postponed.
This event focusses on adolescent mental health resilience after childhood adversity, and is delivered by ACAMH’s Early Intervention in YMH Special Interest Group (SIG).
This event is co-hosted by the Youth and Student Mental Health Special Interest Group of the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland
Quick links about the event
About the day
Key takeaways
About the talks
Who should attend
About the speakers
Prices and booking
How to get here
About the day
Adolescence is a sensitive time characterized by marked cognitive, hormonal and neurodevelopmental changes as well as a rapid rise in the prevalence of mental health disorders. Mental health disorders that first occur in adolescence are more severe and more likely to recur in later life. Importantly, approximately 30% of all mental health problems are attributable to childhood adversity such as parental psychopathology, peer victimization, financial difficulties, or abuse and neglect.
Up to 50% of children and adolescents growing up worldwide experiences such traumatic and stressful events in early life. Therefore, childhood trauma was recently suggested to be ‘Psychiatry’s greatest public health challenge’. Fortunately, not all adolescents who have experienced childhood adversity develop poor mental health, but function resiliently despite their early adverse experiences.
Key takeaways
- Discover why a large proportion of all mental health problems are attributable to childhood adversity
- Why is it that up to 50% of children and adolescents growing up worldwide experiences traumatic and stressful events in early life but not all develop mental health disorders?
- Learn about the importance of studying Resilience, but also why resilient functioning is not facilitated by any single ‘resilience biomarker’.
- Hear why adolescent mental health resilience is a product of complex processes and influences across multiple levels.
About the talks
In this talk I will argue that resilient functioning is not facilitated by any single ‘resilience biomarker’. I will show that resilient functioning is a product of complex processes and influences across multiple levels, ranging from ‘bottom-up’ neurobiological influences, to ‘top-down’ supportive social influences. As such, I will argue that studies that examine and integration these complex dynamics are needed in order to better understand and help build adolescent mental health resilience.
Dr. Anne-Laura van Harmelen
Who should attend
This day would be particularly beneficial to psychologists, psychiatrists, nursing staff, occupational therapists, mental health professionals, social workers, teachers, medical students, psychology students and PhD students and researchers who are investigating topics related to young people’s mental health.
About the speakers
Anne-Laura van Harmelen is a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellow and PI of the Risk and Resilience Group at the University of Cambridge. Van Harmelen leads the MQ funded HOPES project which investigates the social and neurobiological mechanisms of adolescent suicide, as well as the Royal Society Funded RAISE project that aims to understand the neuro-immune mechanisms of stress resilience. For her work, van Harmelen was awarded a ‘2020 Rising Star’ award from the Association for Psychological Science.
How to get there
Map via Google Maps