Largest study ever into European youth suffering mental health problems

Poor mental health is by far the most pressing health problem for European young people. It is a major personal as well as societal issue and the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the situation. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a better understanding of the long-term development of mental health, the identification of early risk factors and early intervention in young people at risk of trauma or mental illness.

The Youth-GEMs project is funded as part of the Europe Horizon program Staying Healthy: Towards a molecular and neurobiological understanding of mental health and mental illness for the benefit of citizens and patients. "We want to understand how genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors interact to cause or prevent mental health problems in young people," says Professor Bart Rutten at Maastricht University.

Besides Maastricht University, 17 institutions in nine European countries (the Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Estonia, Croatia, Serbia) and Australia will participate in Youth-GEMs. The team will work together with Euro Youth Mental Health to set up a European learning community of young people with experience of mental illness who will be actively involved in the various project components.

The researchers will follow the development of adolescents and develop predictive models and identify genetic and environmental risk factors for mental health problems. This offers opportunities for earlier intervention in young people before the symptoms of mental illness occur.

Youth-GEMs is the largest ever study of adolescent mental health development in Europe. Dr. Guloksuz, Associate Professor at Maastricht University, says: "Data will be collected across Europe from 1,000 help-seeking young people between the ages of 12 and 24, and we are using new artificial intelligence methods and digital mobile technology. Most importantly, we will create an international network to involve young people in every step of the process, so both youth and scientists will benefit from each other’s expertise".