Being Research Excellence Hub

Depression is one of the leading causes of illness and disability among adolescents worldwide. To address this urgent public health concern, our research project aims to generate high-quality longitudinal evidence on how individual and combined stressors contribute to the onset of depressive symptoms in young people.

This groundbreaking study is being conducted in Pakistan, Indonesia, and Colombia in collaboration with young individuals with lived experience of mental health challenges.

Lead Institute

Global Institute of Human Development, Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Pakistan

Collaborators

The Global Health Network (TGHN), University of Oxford, UK
National Ministry of Health Services, Regulation and Coordination, Pakistan
The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia

Study Objectives

Examine how primary and secondary stressors interact to influence mental health:

Poverty (primary stressor)
Educational expectations
Childhood adversity, trauma, and exposure to violence

Investigate the psychosocial and biological pathways contributing to depression.
Explore the role of immune and inflammatory markers as early indicators of risk for depression
Adapt and evaluate a risk prediction model to identify young people at higher risk of developing depression.
Implement and assess an indicated preventive intervention aimed at reducing youth depression in Pakistan