This is the second (wave 2) in a series of follow up reports to the Mental Health and Young People Survey (MHCYP) 2017, exploring the mental health of children and young people in February/March 2021, during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and changes since 2017. Experiences of family life, education, and services during the COVID-19 pandemic are also examined. The sample for the Mental Health Survey for Children and Young People, 2021 (MHCYP 2021), wave 2 follow up was based on 3,667 children and young people who took part in the MHCYP 2017 survey, with both surveys also drawing on information collected from parents. Cross-sectional analyses are presented, addressing three primary aims: Aim 1: Comparing mental health between 2017 and 2021 – the likelihood of a mental disorder has been assessed against completion of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in both years in Topic 1 by various demographics. Aim 2: Describing life during the COVID-19 pandemic - Topic 2 examines the circumstances and experiences of children and young people in February/March 2021 and the preceding months, covering: COVID-19 infection and symptoms. Feelings about social media use. Family connectedness. Family functioning. Education, including missed days of schooling, access to resources, and support for those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Changes in circumstances. How lockdown and restrictions have affected children and young people’s lives. Seeking help for mental health concerns. Aim 3: Present more detailed data on the mental health, circumstances and experiences of children and young people by ethnic group during the coronavirus pandemic (where sample sizes allow). The data is broken down by gender and age bands of 6 to 10 year olds and 11 to 16 year olds for all categories, and 17 to 22 years old for certain categories where a time series is available, as well as by whether a child is unlikely to have a mental health disorder, possibly has a mental health disorder and probably has a mental health disorder. This study was funded by the Department of Health and Social Care, commissioned by NHS Digital, and carried out by the Office for National Statistics, the National Centre for Social Research, University of Cambridge and University of Exeter.

This publication provides the most detailed picture available of people who used NHS funded secondary mental health, learning disabilities and autism services in England during the financial year 2021-22. All the analysis included in this publication can be found in the reference data tables, and in the associated machine-readable data file. Information you need to know about the quality of these statistics and how they can be interpreted can be found in the main report. An interactive report is also available allowing you to explore some statistics in further detail. Demographic analysis (age, gender, ethnicity and Index of Multiple Deprivation) is presented for 2021-22. Please consult previous editions of this publication series for demographic analysis for previous years. All annual and monthly publications relating to uses of mental health, learning disabilities and autism services can be found in the related links below. Please note: This publication covers the 2021-22 reporting year and will likely show some of the impacts of COVID-19 however there were no official lockdowns during the period. In places comparisons are made to the 2020-21 reporting year which did feature the impact of the COVID-19 and COVID-19 lockdowns during the pandemic in England. NHS Digital is continually working to improve the relevance and usefulness of content in the Mental Health Bulletin. As a result this annual report includes the addition of a number of new reference tables. These tables have been split out by geographical breakdown and with a focus on inpatients or outpatients. Improvements to the publication page have also been made to improve accessibility.

According to a survey conducted in the United Kingdom in 2021, 73 percent of social media users said they wanted to see people who troll permanently banned from platforms as a protective measure put in place by social media firms to safeguard the mental health of users. Overall, 64 percent said that sensitive posts should carry a trigger warning, and 53 percent felt that social media firms should clearly state how users should not interact with one another.

This publication provides the most timely picture available of people using NHS funded secondary mental health, learning disabilities and autism services in England. These are experimental statistics which are undergoing development and evaluation. This information will be of use to people needing access to information quickly for operational decision making and other purposes. More detailed information on the quality and completeness of these statistics is made available later in our Mental Health Bulletin: Annual Report publication series. • COVID-19 and the production of statistics Due to the coronavirus illness (COVID-19) disruption, the quality and coverage of some of our statistics has been affected, for example by an increase in non-submissions for some datasets. We are also seeing some different patterns in the submitted data. For example, fewer patients are being referred to hospital and more appointments being carried out via phone/telemedicine/email. Therefore, data should be interpreted with care over the COVID-19 period. • Early release of statistics To support the ongoing COVID-19 work, Provisional April 2021 monthly statistics were made available early and presented on our supplementary information pages. Please see the 'Supplementary information requests' section below. • Annual Statistics This publication includes annual statistics for the 2020-21 reporting year. Included are the number of People in contact with services - April 2020 to March 2021, and the number of People in contact with services with a hospital provider spell - April 2020 to March 2021, with age group breakdowns for both counts. In addition, the number of children and young people accessing NHS funded community mental health services (MHS69) - April 2020 to March 2021 are published here. Further annual statistics will be published in the annual Mental Health Bulletin. • Updates to measures For details of new measures, or changes to existing measures, see the 'Notes on Measures' page. Full details of any changes are also available in the associated Metadata file.

This report presents findings from the third (wave 3) in a series of follow up reports to the 2017 Mental Health of Children and Young People (MHCYP) survey, conducted in 2022. The sample includes 2,866 of the children and young people who took part in the MHCYP 2017 survey. The mental health of children and young people aged 7 to 24 years living in England in 2022 is examined, as well as their household circumstances, and their experiences of education, employment and services and of life in their families and communities. Comparisons are made with 2017, 2020 (wave 1) and 2021 (wave 2), where possible, to monitor changes over time.

According to a survey conducted in the United Kingdom in 2021, 69 percent of children said that being online made them feel closer to friends and peers, and 53 percent said it was good for their mental health. Overall, 17 percent of respondents said being online was good for their physical health. In addition, one in ten children said that being online made them feel isolated or alone.

The Mental Health of Children and Young People Surveys (MHCYP) series provides data about the mental health of young people living in Great Britain.

The MHCYP was first carried out in 1999, capturing information on 5 to 15-year-olds. It was conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on behalf of the Department of Health (now known as the Department of Health and Social Care, or DHSC), The Scottish Health Executive and the National Assembly for Wales. The following survey in the series was conducted in 2002 and focused on children looked after by their local authority. The third survey was conducted in 2004 and collected information from 5 to 16-year-olds. Follow-ups to this survey were conducted after 6 months and again after 3 years.

NHS Digital commissioned the 2017 survey on behalf of the DHSC. It collected information on 2 to 19-year-olds living in England. The survey was carried out by a consortium led by NatCen Social Research, which included the ONS and Youth In Mind.

The MHCYP 2020 survey was a Wave 1 follow-up to the 2017 survey and was conducted under the COVID-19 Public Health Directions 2020, as directed by the then Secretary of State for Health. The Wave 2 follow-up was conducted in 2021, and Wave 3 in 2022.

Further information can be found on the NHS Digital Mental Health of Children and Young People Surveys webpage.

A similar series covering adults, the Adult Surveys of Psychiatric Morbidity, is also commissioned by NHS Digital.

The Mental Health of Children and Young People in England, 2022 (MHCYP) study is the third in a series of follow up surveys to the MHCYP 2017, exploring the mental health of children and young people in England. The 2022 follow up survey was carried out by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), the Office for National Statistics (ONS), University of Cambridge and University of Exeter, was funded by a grant from the UK Research and Innovation (CVR&I 472) and the Department of Health and Social Care, and commissioned by NHS England (formerly NHS Digital, who merged with NHS England on 1st February 2023).

The three main aims of MHCYP 2022 were:

• To compare the likelihood of probable mental disorder in 6 to 16 year olds and 17 to 19 year olds in 2017 with that of 6 to 16 year olds and 17 to 19 year olds in 2020 and 2021, overall and by subgroup (age, sex and ethnic group). Describe other aspects of children and young people’s health in 2021 including on, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), long-term physical health conditions and possible eating problems (and compare with any comparable data available).
• To describe the wider circumstances and experiences of children and young people during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic focusing on February and March 2021 and the preceding months, including comparisons with 2017 and 2020 where data were available.
• To present more detailed data on the mental health, circumstances and experiences of children and young people by ethnic group during the coronavirus pandemic.

In 2021, over 20,000 women and approximately 9,600 thousand men aged 85 years and over died from mental and behavioral disorders in England and Wales. This statistic displays the number of deaths caused by mental and behavioral disorders in England and Wales in 2021, by gender and age.

This publication provides the timeliest picture available of people using NHS funded secondary mental health, learning disabilities and autism services in England. These are experimental statistics which are undergoing development and evaluation. This information will be of use to people needing access to information quickly for operational decision making and other purposes. More detailed information on the quality and completeness of these statistics is made available later in our Mental Health Bulletin: Annual Report publication series. • COVID-19 and the production of statistics Due to the coronavirus illness (COVID-19) disruption, the quality and coverage of some of our statistics has been affected, for example by an increase in non-submissions for some datasets. We are also seeing some different patterns in the submitted data. For example, fewer patients are being referred to hospital and more appointments being carried out via phone/telemedicine/email. Therefore, data should be interpreted with care over the COVID-19 period. • Early release of statistics To support the ongoing COVID-19 work, Provisional July 2021 monthly statistics were made available early and presented on our supplementary information pages. • Updates to measures For details of new measures, or changes to existing measures, see the 'Notes on measures' page. Full details of any changes are also available in the associated Metadata file.

This publication contains the official statistics about uses of the Mental Health Act ('the Act') in England during 2021-22. Under the Act, people with a mental disorder may be formally detained in hospital (or 'sectioned') in the interests of their own health or safety, or for the protection of other people. They can also be treated in the community but subject to recall to hospital for assessment and/or treatment under a Community Treatment Order (CTO). In 2016-17, the way we source and produce these statistics changed. Previously these statistics were produced from the KP90 aggregate data collection. They are now primarily produced from the Mental Health Services Data Set (MHSDS). The MHSDS provides a much richer data source for these statistics, allowing for new insights into uses of the Act. People may be detained in secure psychiatric hospitals, other NHS Trusts or at Independent Service Providers (ISPs). All organisations that detain people under the Act must be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). In recent years, the number of detentions under the Act have been rising. An independent review has examined how the Act is used and has made recommendations for improving the Mental Health Act legislation. In responding to the review, the government said it would introduce a new Mental Health Bill to reform practice. This publication does not cover: 1. People in hospital voluntarily for mental health treatment, as they have not been detained under the Act (see the Mental Health Bulletin). 2. Uses of section 136 where the place of safety was a police station; these are published by the Home Office. The format of the publication has changed in 2021/22. Please click on each chapter for more information on each area of the Mental Health Act.

The Mental Health of Children and Young People Surveys (MHCYP) series provides data about the mental health of young people living in Great Britain.

The MHCYP was first carried out in 1999, capturing information on 5 to 15-year-olds. It was conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on behalf of the Department of Health (now known as the Department of Health and Social Care, or DHSC), The Scottish Health Executive and the National Assembly for Wales. The following survey in the series was conducted in 2002 and focused on children looked after by their local authority. The third survey was conducted in 2004 and collected information from 5 to 16-year-olds. Follow-ups to this survey were conducted after 6 months and again after 3 years.

NHS Digital commissioned the 2017 survey on behalf of the DHSC. It collected information on 2 to 19-year-olds living in England. The survey was carried out by a consortium led by NatCen Social Research, which included the ONS and Youth In Mind.

The MHCYP 2020 survey was a Wave 1 follow-up to the 2017 survey and was conducted under the COVID-19 Public Health Directions 2020, as directed by the then Secretary of State for Health. The Wave 2 follow-up was conducted in 2021, and Wave 3 in 2022.

Further information can be found on the NHS Digital Mental Health of Children and Young People Surveys webpage.

A similar series covering adults, the Adult Surveys of Psychiatric Morbidity, is also commissioned by NHS Digital.

The Mental Health of Children and Young People in England, 2021: Special Licence Access (MHCYP) is the second in a series of follow-up surveys to the MHCYP 2017 survey (see SN 8467). The 2021 MHCYP was funded by the Department of Health and Social Care and commissioned by NHS England. The survey was carried out by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen Social Research), the Office for National Statistics, the University of Cambridge and the University of Exeter.

The MHCYP surveys provide England's Official Statistics on trends in child mental health. The MHCYP 2017 was conducted face-to-face and involved data collection from a random sample of children and young people (aged 2 to 19 years). MHCYP 2017 participants who agreed to be re-contacted for future research were invited to take part in the MHCYP 2020 follow-up survey. In the 2020 survey, participants were asked to confirm that they were happy to continue to be re-contacted for future research. Therefore, the achieved MHCYP 2021 sample for this (Wave 2) follow-up was based on 3,667 children and young people (now aged 6 to 23 years) who took part in MHCYP 2017.

The three main aims of MHCYP 2021 were:

• to compare mental health between 2017 and 2020 - the likelihood of a mental disorder was assessed against completion of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in both years;
• to describe life during the COVID-19 pandemic;
• to present more detailed data on the mental health, circumstances and experiences of children and young people by ethnic group during the COVID-19 pandemic (where sample sizes allow).

According to a survey carried out in England in 2021, **** percent of young people aged between 17 and 23 years of age with a mental health concern reported that COVID-19 restrictions had made their life a little worse. While, ** percent of respondents aged 17 to 23 years said their life had been much worse with COVID-19 restrictions.

Ongoing concern for the unique mental health challenges faced by university students has been magnified by the disruption of the global COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020. This study aimed to investigate changes in mental health and wellbeing outcomes for UK university students since the pandemic began, and to examine whether more vulnerable groups were disproportionately impacted. Students at a UK university responded to anonymous online cross-sectional surveys in 2019 (N = 2637), 2020 (N = 3693), and 2021 (N = 2772). Students completed measures of depression, anxiety and subjective wellbeing (SWB). Multivariable logistic regression models investigated associations of survey year and sociodemographic characteristics with mental health and SWB. Compared to 2019, fewer students showed high levels of depression and anxiety symptoms in 2020. However, there was evidence of worsened levels of anxiety and SWB in 2021 compared to 2019. Interaction effects indicated that students from a Black, Asian or minority ethnicity background and students previously diagnosed with a mental health difficulty showed improved outcomes in 2021 compared to previous years. There is a need for sector-wide strategies including preventative approaches, appropriate treatment options for students already experiencing difficulties and ongoing monitoring post-pandemic.

This dataset provides Census 2021 estimates that classify usual residents in Northern Ireland by long-term condition: emotional, psychological or mental health condition, and by broad age bands. The estimates are as at census day, 21 March 2021.

The census collected information on the usually resident population of Northern Ireland on census day (21 March 2021). Initial contact letters or questionnaire packs were delivered to every household and communal establishment, and residents were asked to complete online or return the questionnaire with information as correct on census day. Special arrangements were made to enumerate special groups such as students, members of the Travellers Community, HM Forces personnel etc. The Census Coverage Survey (an independent doorstep survey) followed between 12 May and 29 June 2021 and was used to adjust the census counts for under-enumeration.

Data are available for Northern Ireland and the 11 Local Government Districts.

The Mental Health of Children and Young People Surveys (MHCYP) series provides data about the mental health of young people living in Great Britain.

The MHCYP was first carried out in 1999, capturing information on 5 to 15-year-olds. It was conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on behalf of the Department of Health (now known as the Department of Health and Social Care, or DHSC), The Scottish Health Executive and the National Assembly for Wales. The following survey in the series was conducted in 2002 and focused on children looked after by their local authority. The third survey was conducted in 2004 and collected information from 5 to 16-year-olds. Follow-ups to this survey were conducted after 6 months and again after 3 years.

NHS Digital commissioned the 2017 survey on behalf of the DHSC. It collected information on 2 to 19-year-olds living in England. The survey was carried out by a consortium led by NatCen Social Research, which included the ONS and Youth In Mind.

The MHCYP 2020 survey was a Wave 1 follow-up to the 2017 survey and was conducted under the COVID-19 Public Health Directions 2020, as directed by the then Secretary of State for Health. The Wave 2 follow-up was conducted in 2021, and Wave 3 in 2022.

Further information can be found on the NHS Digital Mental Health of Children and Young People Surveys webpage.

A similar series covering adults, the Adult Surveys of Psychiatric Morbidity, is also commissioned by NHS Digital.

The Mental Health of Children and Young People in England, 2020: Special Licence Access (MHCYP) is the first in a series of follow-up surveys to the MHCYP 2017 survey (which in itself was the third survey of its kind - see SN 8467 - with previous MHCYPs carried out in 1999, 2004). The 2020 MHCYP was funded by the Department of Health and Social Care and commissioned by NHS England. The survey was carried out by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen Social Research), the Office for National Statistics, the University of Cambridge and the University of Exeter.

The MHCYP surveys provide England's Official Statistics on trends in child mental health. The MHCYP 2017 was conducted face-to-face and involved data collection from a random sample of children and young people (aged 2 to 19 years). MHCYP 2017 participants (now aged 5 to 22 years) who agreed to be re-contacted for future research were invited to take part in a follow-up online survey in July 2020. Therefore, the achieved MHCYP 2020 sample for this (Wave 1) follow-up was based on 3,570 children and young people who took part in MHCYP 2017, with both surveys also drawing on information collected from parents.

The two main aims of MHCYP 2020 were:

• to compare mental health between 2017 and 2020 - the likelihood of a mental disorder was assessed against completion of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in both years; and
• to describe life during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  
  

Latest edition information

For the second edition (September 2024) a new version of the data file was deposited, with derived variables included that had not been populated in the first edition.

According to a survey conducted in England in 2021, ** percent of young people aged between 17 and 23 years sought support or advice from friends or family for a mental health concern. While, ** percent of young people aged between 11 and 16 years used an education source for support with a mental health concern.