Timeframe
2022-2024
Funding
Cure Kids
A Better Start National Science Challenge
COMPASS staff
Barry Milne
Collaborators
University of Auckland
Sarah Hetrick
University of Canterbury
Lukas Marek
Matt Hobbs
Jesse Wiki
University of Otago
Nick Bowden
Jesse Kokaua
Troy Ruhe
Moana Theodore
Jesse Wiki
Joe Boden
Description
This project is led by Nick Bowden at the University of Otago. It focuses on mental health as one of the biggest health challenges facing Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ). One in four NZ young people will experience a mental health issue before they turn 18. Inequities in mental health issues and care are persistent and worsening, with Māori and Pasifika overrepresented. The determinants of mental health are multiple, complex, and increasingly the influence of the environment in which young people grow up is the subject of research to better understand mental health.
This research aims to understand the interplay between mental health and the environments in which NZ young people grow up. More specifically, it seeks to determine whether young people have better mental health if they grow up in areas with more ready access to healthy environmental features such as green and blue spaces such as parks and rivers, compared to unhealthy environmental features such as gaming venues, takeaway shops, and liquor outlets.