Adolescence is a key developmental stage for the onset of mental illness. It is also a time when getting enough sleep becomes a major challenge. Disrupted sleep represents an important potential risk factor for mental ill-health in young people but this is an area that has not yet been properly investigated. The SCRAMS project will build on already well-established links with schools in Scotland (the Schools Health and Wellbeing Improvement Research Network, called SHINE) to develop a UK-wide research collaboration focused on investigating sleep and mental health within schools. With input from pupils, parents and teachers, we will design and carry out a programme of public engagement focused on sleep and mental health within schools. We will also conduct a series of small-scale feasibility studies that will help us to design more comprehensive studies in the future.

Overall, the SCRAMS project has the potential to establish a new schools-based adolescent mental health research consortium focused on understanding the complex relationships between sleep, light exposure and mental wellbeing, with a view to developing better interventions for mental health in the future.