Vista is a youth mental health study looking at the social lives, relationships and activities of young people who do and do not hear voices. We are interested in better understanding what voice- hearing is like, what might make it upsetting for young people and how it might influence young people’s social lives.

  Why are we doing this research project? 

However, we don’t know much about voice-hearing in young people and how this might affect their social lives and activities.

What is our goal?

• To find out more about the social relationships and activities of young people who do and do not hear voices.
• To find out more about voice hearing in young people and better understand when voice hearing might be upsetting for young people.
• To hear about the experience of care /support of young people distressed by voice-hearing

Research implications will focus on informing developmentally appropriate therapeutic interventions for young people, including those who hear distressing voices.

Who can take part?

Young people:

•  14 to 18 (including 14 and 18) years of age
•  receiving care from an Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) team or a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) in Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

This project will not be right for young people who: 1) can’t read and write in English, or 2) are diagnosed with moderate or severe learning disability.

For those under 16 years of age, a parent/legal guardian will also need to agree for young people to take part in the study.

What will taking part involve?

Participants will complete questionnaires and interview-type assessments of their current/past mental health difficulties and social relating with the help of a researcher from our team. 

Duration: 3 to 4 hours, over one or two sessions. This will depend on the young person. 

Young people with voice-hearing experiences might also be invited to an optional interview to talk about any care and support received from services. This will take up to 1 hour.

Reimbursment: Participants will be given £20 for their participation 

Study design:  Vista is a cross-sectional exploratory study.

Timescale:  February 2018 - March 2019. We are aiming to recruit 100 young people (50 voice-hearing experiences and 50 without such experiences) within Sussex.

Please take a look at the study Participant Information Sheet (PIS) Vista- Participant Information Sheet (Part 1&2) [DOCX 483.20KB]

For those under 16 years of age, a person with parental responsibility should also agree for the young person to take part.

Please take a look at the Parental Information Sheet Vista- Parental Information Sheet (Part 1&2) [DOCX 216.64KB]

Contact information

For more information about taking part or referring a young person, please contact the researcher Kat Rammou (Chief Investigator).

Email: A.Rammou@sussex.ac.uk or Aikaterini.rammou@sussexpartnership.nhs.uk

Phone/text: 07391868645 with your name and phone number. 

or: Click here to leave your name and contact details and we will contact you. 

If you have any further concerns, you can also email the project supervisors:

• Dr. Mark Hayward: M.I.Hayward@sussex.ac.uk (School of Psychology, University of Sussex & Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust)
• Professor David Fowler: D.Fowler@sussex.ac.uk (School of Psychology, University of Sussex)
• Dr. Clio Berry: C.Berry@sussex.ac.uk (School of Psychology, University of Sussex & Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust)

 This project is supported by the ESRC funded Doctoral studentship and Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. This project is sponsored by University of Sussex. IRAS ID: 236382