This talk will describe a body of work focused on supporting treatment decision making in youth mental health. I will discuss a number of studies that involve the development and evaluation of online decision support tools for youth mental health, including the two described below. These tools are designed to facilitate shared decision making1, providing the scaffolding for client-clinician discussions that focus on both evidence and client preferences and values.

Based on previous qualitative work2,3, Right Choice, Right Time focused on treatment decisions for youth depression. Clinical practice guidelines were translated into an online decision aid for three specific decisions based on severity of symptoms. After using the decision aid, participants had reduced decisional conflict, were more likely to make a decision and were more likely to choose a treatment in line with the guidelines.

The CHOICE Project employed eight peer workers to deliver an online service options tool offered to all clients in the waiting room at headspace Gosford. When compared with an historical control group, participants who used the tool were more likely to feel involved in making a decision about which service option to choose. Participants had reduced decisional conflict and were satisfied with their care.

Comorbidity (the co-occurrence of two or more disorders) is one of the greatest challenges in mental health. Anxiety and substance use disorders are common and debilitating disorders, and frequently go together. When these problems do co-occur, they tend to be more severe, less responsive to standard treatments, and have a greater impact on quality of life than either disorder alone.

This talk will begin by describing a program of work aimed at understanding the interconnection between anxiety and substance use, and improving access across Australia to evidence-based resources that prevent uptake and escalation of substance use among young people1. To complement these prevention efforts, there is a critical need for effective treatments for people with comorbid anxiety and substance use disorders. I will describe the development and evaluation of an innovative CBT-based treatment to target co-occurring social anxiety and alcohol use disorders, and the interconnection between them2. A randomised controlled trial (involving 117 people) showed that this integrated approach effectively treats both disorders and improves quality of life compared to standard treatment3. These innovative prevention and treatment strategies have the potential to significantly improve standard of care and reduce burden by interrupting the vicious cycle of anxiety and substance use.

Mental health disorders are common and are associated with significant burden of disease and social costs. To alleviate these problems it is essential that we focus on improving our understanding of the causes of mental disorders and our responses to prevention and treatment. Early Career Researchers play an integral role achieving these aims.

This symposia will bring together the three TheMHS ECR Award winners to present their cutting edge mental health research together. The session will be chaired by Professor Maree Teesson, Director of the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Mental Health and Substance Use and winner of the 2014 Eureka Prize for Outstanding mentor of Young Researchers.

Specifically, the three presentations will address the following categories:
1. ECR Innovation winner (TBC) - Investigation concerning a novel or very recent development related to Mental Health service delivery in Australia or New Zealand.
2. ECR Best Practice winner (TBC) - Investigation into Best Practices Mental Health in Australia and/or New Zealand.
3. ECR Excellence winner (TBC) - Research investigations that will lead to better mental health and do not readily fit into the above 2 categories targeting service provision.

This symposium will be of particular interest to researchers, clinicians and stakeholders interested in improving the mental health of Australians.