Promoting safe adolescent relationships: A cross-disciplinary coproduced approach

This project pioneers a cross-disciplinary approach to adolescent IPV, integrating behavioural genetics, psychology, and co-production to improve mental health and wellbeing.

Project Summary

This project will pioneer a cross-disciplinary approach to understanding and preventing adolescent intimate partner violence (IPV), a significant predictor of mental health difficulties and reduced wellbeing, by integrating methods from behavioural genetics, clinical and educational psychology, and participatory co-production.

The prevalence of mental health problems among young people is rising at alarming rates, and there is an urgent need for innovative strategies to identify and address key risk factors before mental health problems emerge.
IPV is a major psychiatric risk factor, and IPV among adolescents is a growing concern in the UK. Despite a £6 million government investment in relationship and sex education1, a 2024 survey of 10,387 13-to-17-year-olds found that, of the 27% who had been in a romantic relationship in the previous year, 49% experienced violent or controlling behaviours from their partners (i.e. 13% of all adolescents) and only 40% reported receiving education on intimate relationships2.

This problem directly relates to the strategic priorities of the Grand Challenge of Mental Health & Wellbeing (GCMHW) to identify key drivers of mental health risk and address the current gaps in effective mental health prevention. This project will advance the GCMHW’s mission through rigorous research into the mechanisms of risk and resilience, informing the future development of targeted interventions to improve adolescent relationships and mental health.

The collaborative, cross-disciplinary approach of the project is innovative in bridging traditionally separate approaches (e.g. genetic and participatory work) to triangulate evidence across methods and perspectives and gain a richer understanding of the interplay between personality difficulties, IPV, and mental health. It will generate insights that are both scientifically rigorous and grounded in real-world contexts, thus enhancing both the robustness and the relevance of research findings.

(1) UK Parliament, 2024 
(2) Youth Endowment Fund, 2024