Anna Freud (a mental health charity for children and young people) recently published material around the latest research (from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London, in partnership with Anna Freud and University College London) into;
"Neurodivergent adolescents experience twice the emotional burden at school compared to their neurotypical peers":
The research conclusion highlights the potential value of using a "My Emotions in School Inventory (MESI)" to help measure the exposure of neurodivergent adolescents to emotional burden (EB).
"The ‘My Emotions in School Inventory (MESI)’ was co-produced with young people with ADHD and/or autism to measure levels of emotional burden (EB – combining frequency of exposure to common upsetting events and intensity of emotional responses to them) in adolescents."
Particularly pleasing; was the realisation that this emotional burden self-report measure for adolescents was actually co-produced with neurodivergent adolescents. I believe that was really important.
Many people in our community here might potentially wish to be aware of and consider this research.
As a volunteer with a community service organisation (supporting adolescents) I take the opportunities, where possible, to participate in that organisation's strategy consultation process and inclusion programmes.
I definitely intend to think further upon this research (not least because; I am all too aware that it may not actually be within the school setting that a neurodivergent young person initially chooses to share their emotional burden issues / concerns with someone and seeks some guidance or support).
Research paper:
Lukito, S., Chandler, S., Kakoulidou, M., Griffiths, K., Wyatt, A., Funnell, E., Pavlopoulou, G., Baker, S., Stahl, D., Sonuga-Barke, E. and the RE-STAR team (2025), Emotional burden in school as a source of mental health problems associated with ADHD and/or autism: Development and validation of a new co-produced self-report measure. J Child Psychol Psychiatr. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.70003
The research paper website:
https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcpp.70003
Or, in PDF format:
https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jcpp.70003
(Hoping some of the above might prove to be of interest to people in support of neurodivergent young people in their lives and communities).
