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Professor Barbara Dooley, Lead Researcher at UCD; Jerry O'Sullivan, Deputy CEO ESB; Katie Cullen, member of Jigsaw's (Youth Advisory Panel) YAP Galway; Neil Mac Dhonnagain, member of Jigsaw's YAP Dublin city and Dr Joseph Duffy, CEO Jigsaw, at the launch today. Maxwell Photography

15,000 people to take part in largest ever study of youth mental health

The research will help influence youth mental health policy and practice in Ireland.

MORE THAN 15,000 young people are expected to take part in the largest ever study of Ireland’s youth mental health.

My World Survey 2 will consult with people aged 12-25, and schools and educational institutions have been encouraged to get involved.

The survey was launched by UCD in partnership with Jigsaw, the National Centre for Youth Mental Health, today. 2012′s My World Survey 1 remains the most significant study of its kind in Ireland to date.

Of the almost 14,500 people interviewed six years ago, one in three reported feelings of depression and anxiety, 21% of young adults said they had engaged in deliberate self-harm in the past year, and strong links were found between excessive drinking and suicidal behaviour.

Speaking at the launch today, UCD Lead Researcher Professor Barbara Dooley said repeat surveys “offer a distinct advantage over single cross-sectional surveys as they enable us to capture net effect changes”.

Dooley said such changes might be expressed as an “overall increase or decrease in behaviours such as the number of young people who report an intention to seek help for mental health problems they are experiencing”.

“By repeating this research at a different time and asking similar questions, it enables us to collect information that can easily be compared.

“In this way, the findings from both waves of My World Survey can be used to inform and influence youth mental policy and practice in Ireland,” she stated. 

Seminal

Jigsaw CEO Dr Joseph Duffy said the research will be “a seminal piece of work”. Findings from the survey will form the foundation of programme development for Jigsaw’s prevention and early intervention approach and be used to influence youth mental health policy and practice in Ireland.

Unlike other large-scale surveys which often ask a more focused group of people (eg under 18s or over 18s) questions around one or two risks or protective factors, such as suicide or self-care, My World Survey 2 will consult a very wide age range (12–25) on a huge breadth of risks and protective factors.

Minister for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Connor encouraged participation in the survey, particularly among third level institutions. She said the research will be “instrumental in building and improving our collective knowledge of the mental health of our students”.

My World Survey 2 is a 15-month research project, with data collection taking place between October 2018 and May 2019. The final results will be published in December 2019. To learn more or enquire about registration, you can contact myworldsurvey2@ucd.ie.

Need help? Support is available:

  • Samaritans 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.ie
  • Aware 1800 80 48 48 (depression, anxiety)
  • Pieta House 1800 247 247 or email mary@pieta.ie (suicide, self-harm)
  • Teen-Line Ireland 1800 833 634 (for ages 13 to 19)
  • Childline 1800 66 66 66 (for under 18s)

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26 Comments
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    Mute james Goodyear
    Favourite james Goodyear
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    Oct 10th 2015, 9:32 AM

    Women don’t make good comediennes.

    63
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    Mute Lester Jeffcoat
    Favourite Lester Jeffcoat
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    Oct 10th 2015, 9:50 AM

    Says the over-thinking potato.

    43
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    Mute Mjhint
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    Oct 10th 2015, 10:01 AM

    No actually Christopher Hitchens said it & done an article in Vanity Fair about the fact that evolution may have made men funny as they have to be for the purpose of mating whereas women don’t require the same tactic. After several rebuttals by women including several successful female comedians it appears they only managed to confirm his hypothesis.

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    Mute Aoife Barry
    Favourite Aoife Barry
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    Oct 10th 2015, 10:13 AM

    James, you’re a gas man. Laughing my head off here at your witty joke!

    28
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    Mute Beachmaster
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    Oct 10th 2015, 10:26 AM

    Oh now!

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    Mute little jim
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    Oct 10th 2015, 10:48 AM

    Boobies are not light entertainment, they have no need for cheap funbag jokes.

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    Mute Gavin Corrigan
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    Oct 10th 2015, 9:34 PM

    Similar to drivers, good women comedians are a minority

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    Mute catkins407
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    Oct 10th 2015, 9:36 AM

    Definitely” over thinking girl”. It’s a lot better than me. I struggle very much to read people and social situations so I end up being ” what inappropriate fecking thing did I say now ” woman. Lol

    34
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    Mute Aoife Barry
    Favourite Aoife Barry
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    Oct 10th 2015, 10:24 AM

    Glad I’m not alone in that C! I think we all have situations where we overthink – and it can be such a pain. Often it doesn’t do anything positive for us either.

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    Mute little jim
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    Oct 10th 2015, 10:45 AM

    Is overtalking a thing?

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    Mute Ronan Stokes
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    Oct 10th 2015, 11:14 AM

    Jo Brand is a brilliant comedian, doesn’t take any crap and knows how to deliver a good story. Similar dead pan style Jack Dee. Im not a fan of Sue Perkins style as I think its very one dimensional, for me it’s more of a “look how clever and witty I am”, as opposed to delivering something funny about life. Her style seems very approval seeking.

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    Mute Ruairi O'Hagan
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    Oct 10th 2015, 11:34 AM

    Great stuff Aoife! Looking forward to the next part!

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    Mute Aoife Barry
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    Oct 10th 2015, 11:41 AM

    Thanks so much R! :D

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    Mute dj
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    Oct 10th 2015, 9:43 AM

    Go on,tell us a joke.

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    Mute Michael Sands
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    Oct 11th 2015, 5:10 PM

    Enda and Joan are leaders of their parties in a government together, how’s that dj lol.

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    Mute Chauncey Gardiner
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    Oct 10th 2015, 12:23 PM

    Fair play to you Aoife! It takes courage to step out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself.

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    Mute Richard Cheney
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    Oct 10th 2015, 1:06 PM

    Jim Jefferies,Doug Stanhope,George Carlin,Bill Hicks – all highly recommended

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    Mute Uncle Monty
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    Oct 10th 2015, 5:12 PM

    Oh yes, I’ll add Louis CK.if you don’t mind. Doug Stanhope talking about the death of his mother is worth a watch…

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