Mental Health of Children and Young People in England, 2023 - wave 4 follow up to the 2017 survey

The MHCYP survey (2017) and the subsequent waves of data collection (2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023) all used the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) as a main measure of mental health.

The SDQ is a brief questionnaire which assesses different aspects of mental health including problems with emotions, behaviour, relationships, hyperactivity and concentration. 

In this report, responses to the SDQ from parents, children and young people were used to estimate the likelihood that a child or young person might have a mental disorder. Each child or young person was classified as either:

• unlikely to have a mental disorder
• has a possible mental disorder
• has a probable mental disorder

More detail on how this was done is available in the 2021 Survey Design and Methods Report.

It is important to note that although the SDQ was used in MHCYP 2017, the mental disorder prevalence estimates in the initial MHCYP 2017 survey report drew on a different and more detailed diagnostic assessment of mental disorder, the Development and Well-Being Assessment (DAWBA). 

For the 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 follow up waves, only the SDQ was used. This was mainly due to the shift to online data collection during the pandemic, so a shorter, simpler questionnaire was deemed more suitable, whilst still producing robust estimates. 

Therefore, please bear in mind the following:

• any comparisons between 2017 and the subsequent waves must draw on a comparable measure: the SDQ 
• comparisons with the MHCYP 2017 estimates may be affected by changes in survey design, such as the use of face to face interviews in the 2017 survey while the follow up waves were online
   

These findings are based on a sample and the prevalence figures in this report are estimates weighted to represent the entire population of children and young people in England. 

Estimates are subject to a margin of error, also known as a 95% confidence interval. For example, a survey estimate might be 24% with a 95% confidence interval of 22% to 26%.

When breaking down findings by some combinations of age, sex or mental health, numbers for some subgroups were small, meaning that the confidence intervals around some estimates are relatively wide.

Confidence intervals for each estimate are included in the Excel data tables. When comparing estimates, they are considered to be different (statistically significant) from each other when their confidence intervals do not overlap, indicating a real difference in the estimates being compared. They are considered to be similar (no statistically significant difference) when their confidence intervals overlap. When sample sizes are small, confidence intervals tend to be wide so there is more chance of overlap. Therefore, it is strongly advised to refer to the confidence intervals provided when comparing estimates over time or by group. 

An explanation of confidence intervals can be found in the Glossary. 
 

This report draws on data from the 2,370 children and young people aged 8 to 25 years who took part in the 2017 survey and 2023 follow up, as well as information provided by their parents for children aged 8 to 16 years. 

The report has the following parts:

• Part 1: Mental health
• Part 2: Sleep, loneliness, activities and health behaviours 
• Part 3: Education, services and support
• Part 4: Social and economic context
• Part 5: Eating problems and disorders 
• Data quality statement 
• Technical appendix
• Glossary
• Acknowledgements
• Author, Copyright and Licensing

Each of the 5 parts present the core findings on the topic area, accompanied by tables and figures. 

Estimates are presented separately for 8 to 16 year olds (sometimes with breakdowns for 8 to 10 year olds and 11 to 16 year olds) and 17 to 25 year olds (sometimes with breakdowns that vary depending on the time series available) to reflect differences in questions asked of these age groups. 

Breakdowns by sex and mental health and comparisons with previous survey waves are presented where available and appropriate. Demographic classifications (such as age and sex) were consistent with the coding used in 2017. For sex, the coding was based on the NHS sample file that used a binary sex classification, therefore sex rather than gender is used throughout this report.  

The other sections contain quality and methodology information with details on the methods used available in the Technical appendix.