#one in five
Campaigns & Publications
We have supported a number of our academic partners, think tanks and charity partners to publish and launch new evidence or policy analysis. Below is a collection of the publications supported so far. This is by no means comprehensive. Click on the image tiles below to download the reports.
Publications
WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE EFFECTIVENESS OF INTERVENTIONS THAT TARGET COMPULSIVE SMARTPHONE AND SOCIAL MEDIA USE AMONG TEENAGERS?
Young people, families, schools and policymakers are increasingly concerned about the impact of smartphones and digital platforms on young people’s wellbeing. While critical work is underway to improve regulatory standards and make digital products safer by design, systemic change will take time. In the meantime, decisions are being made and interventions are being considered to address harms affecting young people now.
To support informed choices, The Prudence Trust commissioned a scoping review by Professor Amy Orben and colleagues at the University of Cambridge. Rather than asking whether social media is “good” or “bad,” the review examines a fragmented body of research to understand what interventions exist to address compulsive smartphone and social media use in adolescence and what evidence exists for their effectiveness.
The report reviewed 70 interventions for young people, families and schools. It looks specifically at impacts on wellbeing and behaviour and assesses feasibility, acceptability and reach.
GROWING UP WELL: A PLACE-BASED MODEL FOR TRANSFORMING CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S MENTAL HEALTH
Over 2024 – 2025 we supported The Centre for Young Lives to carry out an 18-month trailblazer programme ‘Growing Up Well’ in Humber and North Yorkshire. The trailblazer implemented and tested a place-based approach to improving young people’s mental health support across the region in collaboration with local commissioners and youth services. In January 2026 The Centre for Young Lives published a report setting out the Growing Up Well model and early evidence of its impact. Drawing on the trailblazer, the report shows how health services, schools, local authorities and community organisations can work together around shared outcomes to move from crisis response to neighbourhood-level support. Growing Up Well complements the concurrently published Future Minds campaign roadmap: while Future Minds proposes a national strategic direction for reform, Growing Up Well provides a concrete example of how that reform can be delivered in practice locally. An exec summary of the report can be read here.
FUTURE MINDS ROADMAP TO TRANSFORM CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S MENTAL HEALTH
In 2026 the Prudence Trust supported Future Minds Campaign partners to publish a practical roadmap for policymakers, presenting solutions to reform a mental health system that is currently failing too many children and young people. The roadmap calls for investment in early, community‑based support, stronger specialist care, and safer, more accessible digital services so help reaches young people earlier and in the places they already are. It offers concrete, evidence‑informed recommendations for Government, commissioners and system leaders, positioning children and young people’s mental health as central to long‑term social and economic wellbeing.
A BLUEPRINT FOR YOUNG FUTURES HUBS
We are a long-term supporter of Youth Access, which in 2025, alongside the Funds the Hubs coalition partners, published a blueprint to support Government departments in the design and development of Young Futures hubs – places that young people can go for support. The blueprint sets out a vision for the design of the hubs as they rolled out. Youth Access have also this year published a new Quality Framework that defines what good looks like for hubs.
GIRLS AND YOUNG WOMEN’S MENTAL HEALTH: UNDERSTANDING NEED AND PROVISION
Girls and young women are experiencing some of the highest and fastest growing rates of poor mental health in the UK. Yet their experiences and needs remain poorly understood, with significant gaps in evidence, policy attention, funding and service provision. Commissioned by the Prudence Trust and the Pilgrim Trust, this report brings together research evidence, funding analysis and sector insight to examine what is known about girls’ and young women’s mental health, the drivers shaping their experiences, and the support currently available. Produced by Agenda Alliance and the Centre for Young Lives, it explores provision across the youth, women and girls, and mental health sectors, highlighting where girls and young women fall between systems and which approaches show promise – including gender responsive support, trauma informed practice and peer based models.
GROWING UP WELL: AMBITIOUS FOR THE FUTURE OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT
In 2025 we supported the Centre for Young Lives to investigate public spending on, and strategies for, young people’s mental health services across England. The Centre for Young Lives’ analysis suggests fewer than one in ten of the NHS’s Integrated Care Boards in England have a dedicated strategy for children and young people’s mental health. The report highlights the need for national and local strategic prioritisation of children and young people’s mental health, with a particular focus on delivering mental health support in the community, in line with the NHS 10 Year Plan.
Please see here for more reports issued by the Centre for Young Lives
FUTURE MINDS: WHY INVESTING IN CHILDREN’S MENTAL HEALTH WILL UNLOCK ECONOMIC GROWTH
In 2025 the Prudence Trust joined the Centre for Mental Health, the Coalition for Children and Young People’s Mental Health, the Centre for Young Lives, and YoungMinds to call on the Government to deliver urgent reform and investment ahead of long-term policy decisions to be taken in the 2025 Spending Review and 10 Year Plan for Health in England. This report highlights the long-term economic benefits of investing in measures to support children and young people’s mental health.
Please see here for more reports issued by the Centre for Mental Health, the Coalition for Children and Young People’s Mental Health, the Centre for Young Lives. and YoungMinds.
NON-SPECIALIST MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT FOR YOUNG PEOPLE IN ENGLAND
In 2024 we supported the Education Policy Institute, in partnership with Youth Access, to investigate the availability of early mental health support for young people across England. The research, using data collected from integrated care systems, local authorities and NHS trusts, shows substantial geographic variation in the range of non-specialist mental health support services for young people – with no clear link between the level of need and the range of support on offer.
Please see here for more reports issued by the Education Policy Institute.
LANCET PSYCHIATRY COMMISSION ON YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH
In 2024 we supported the UK launch of the Lancet Psychiatry Commission on youth mental health. The commission highlights a global decline in youth mental health over the past two decades, driven by megatrends and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The review calls for urgent action to improve youth mental health care, emphasising a holistic approach that spans promotion, prevention, and treatment across a 12–25 year age range. Factors called out as contributing to the crisis include the pandemic, climate change, social and economic pressures, and the impact of unregulated digital environments.
Click here to read the Lancet Psychiatry Commission on youth mental health.
