Mental health problems are one of the world’s biggest causes of ill health, affecting hundreds of millions globally each year, and causing significant social and economic impacts. These problems often start in adolescence.

Developing effective interventions to support mental health is a major public health priority. And it makes sense to focus our efforts on interventions for young people.

The MYRIAD (MY Resilience In ADolescence) Project asked how we can best support the mental health of young people aged 11-16. Our previous work had shown that mindfulness training (MT) is effective in adults. We wanted to see if it could also be effective in adolescents. Specifically, we wanted to ask if schools-based mindfulness training is an effective, cost-effective, accessible and scale-able way to promote mental health and well-being in adolescence?

The MYRIAD Project involved more than 28,000 children, 650 teachers, 100 schools and 20 million data points. Many investigators and researchers, teachers and young people contributed to its success. It was an eight-year project, funded by the Wellcome Trust.