Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Dec 2;20(12):e0338009.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0338009. eCollection 2025.

The BrainWaves study of adolescent wellbeing and mental health: Methods development and pilot data

Ryan D Parsons  1 , Sarah Bauermeister  1 , Julian Turner  1   2 , Natalie Coles  1   2 , Simon Thompson  3 , Emma Squires  3 , Tracey Riseborough  2 , Joshua Bauermeister  1 , Abbie Simpkin  2 , Naomi French  2 , Shankly Cragg  3 , Hazel Lockhart-Jones  3 , Olly Robertson  1 , Abhaya Adlakha  1 , Ian Thompson  4 , John Gallacher  1
Affiliations

The BrainWaves study of adolescent wellbeing and mental health: Methods development and pilot data

Ryan D Parsons et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Adolescent mental health and wellbeing are of growing concern globally with increased incidence of mental health disorders in young people. BrainWaves provides a framework for relevant and diverse research programmes into adolescent mental health and wellbeing that can translate into practice and policy. The research programme is a partnership with schools centred on establishing a large (n > 50,000) cohort and trials platform. Reported here is the BrainWaves cohort pilot study. This was designed as proof-of-concept for our recruitment and data capture pipelines, and for cost-modelling. A network of research schools was recruited and a computer-driven questionnaire administered. The eligible population was 16 + year olds who were attending the research schools. Of 41 research schools, 36 (88%) participated over one three-week and one four-week data collection period. From an eligible population of 33,531 young people, 16,010 (48%) attended the study lesson and created an account. Of the 16,010 (100%) who created an account, 15,444 (96%) consented to participate, 9,321 (60%) consented to linkage of research data with educational records, and 6,069 (39%) consented to linkage of research with school/college attendance data. Participants were aged 16-19 years, 59% female, and 76% White. Higher levels of anxiety and depression were found in females than males. Higher levels of media-based social networking were found in females, whereas higher levels of media-based gaming were found in males. Females were more likely to report insufficient sleep whilst males were more likely to report high levels of exercise. This study confirmed an ability to recruit at pace and scale. Whilst the response-rate does not indicate a representative sample, the demographics describe an inclusive and diverse sample. Data collected confirmed findings from previous studies indicating that the electronic data collection methods did not materially bias the findings. Initial cost-modelling suggests these data were collected for around £20 per participant.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Distributions of anxiety and depressive symptom scores according to sex.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Distributions of wellbeing scores according to sex.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Distributions of lifestyle scores according to sex.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Distributions of social media use according to sex.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Özdemir A, Utkualp N, Palloş A. Physical and psychosocial effects of the changes in adolescence period. Int J Car Sci. 2016;9(2):717–23.
    1. Branje S, de Moor EL, Spitzer J, Becht AI. Dynamics of Identity Development in Adolescence: A Decade in Review. J Res Adolesc. 2021;31(4):908–27. doi: 10.1111/jora.12678 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Zimmer‐Gembeck MJ, Collins WA. Autonomy Development During Adolescence. Blackwell Handbook of Adolescence. Wiley; 2006, p. 174–204. doi: 10.1002/9780470756607.ch9 - DOI
    1. Shorey S, Ng ED, Wong CHJ. Global prevalence of depression and elevated depressive symptoms among adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Clin Psychol. 2022;61(2):287–305. doi: 10.1111/bjc.12333 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Polanczyk GV, Salum GA, Sugaya LS, Caye A, Rohde LA. Annual research review: A meta-analysis of the worldwide prevalence of mental disorders in children and adolescents. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2015;56(3):345–65. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.12381 - DOI - PubMed