Course features

This online short course from King's College London brings together perspectives from psychology, neuroscience and social research.

We begin by exploring how children develop, examining typical and atypical developmental trajectories, the importance of attachment relationships, and the impact of early adversity and trauma on emotional, social and cognitive development. Understanding these foundations helps us make sense of mental health across childhood and adolescence.

We then examine some of the most pressing issues facing young people today, including eating disorders, addiction, problematic gaming and social media use. Drawing on current research, you will critically evaluate the evidence surrounding these increasingly important challenges.

The course also introduces a range of common mental health conditions affecting children and adolescents, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). You will explore how these difficulties present, the factors that contribute to them, and current approaches to treatment and support.

Looking ahead, the course explores emerging developments in the field, including digital mental health, artificial intelligence (AI), participatory research, and global perspectives on child and adolescent mental health. Throughout, you will develop a more critical, research-informed understanding of child and adolescent mental health and the challenges and opportunities shaping the field's future.

Course aims

The course aims to deepen your understanding of child development and mental health, strengthen your ability to evaluate research and treatment evidence, and introduce emerging approaches to research and practice. It brings together developmental theory, global perspectives and lived experience to explore the issues shaping young people’s mental health today.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

• Explain typical and atypical developmental trajectories, attachment theory, and the psychological and emotional effects of early adversity, including institutional deprivation.
• Critically evaluate research and evidence-based treatment approaches for key child and adolescent mental health conditions, using relevant diagnostic and clinical frameworks.
• Assess emerging challenges, including addiction, problematic gaming and social media use, and inequalities in global mental health.
• Evaluate the opportunities and challenges associated with digital mental health, AI and participatory research involving lived experience.

Our expertise

This course utilises King's expertise, featuring:

• Research-informed learning drawn from the online MSc Psychology & Neuroscience of Mental Health.
• Online study combining interactive materials with weekly supervised webinars.
• A choice of non-assessed study or an assessed route offering 15 postgraduate credits on successful completion.
• An interdisciplinary perspective connecting development, mental health, technology and lived experience.

Entry requirements

There are no formal entry requirements. The course is taught at postgraduate level (level 7), so you should be comfortable engaging with academic material and, if choosing the assessed route, producing written academic work.

Assessment and progression: How to apply

Please select one of the following module options on the King's Apply search field to be able to locate this course:

• Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Development - Short Course (Audit Route), Non-assessed route: Study the course content over five weeks without completing formal assessments. This route does not award academic credit.
• Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Development - Short Course (Credit-Bearing Route), Assessed route: Study for eight weeks in total: five weeks of course content followed by three weeks to complete the assessments. You will submit a 1,500-word essay and a 700-word lay summary, developing both your academic analysis and your ability to communicate research to a non-specialist audience.

Candidates wishing to participate in the course without undertaking the formal assessments, may choose to do so by selecting the course as a zero-credit free-standing module. 

For those who choose the assessed route, successful completion of the assessed route awards 15 credits at Level 7. These credits may be recognised towards the online PGCert, PGDip or MSc Psychology & Neuroscience of Mental Health, subject to admission to the relevant programme and approval under the applicable credit-transfer rules. Completing this short course does not guarantee admission to a postgraduate programme.

Further information

This course is particularly relevant to professionals and students working in, or preparing for, medicine, psychology, neuroscience, life sciences and related fields. It may also interest those working with children and young people in education, health or social care who want to deepen their understanding of development and mental health.

It offers an opportunity to update your knowledge, engage critically with contemporary research and explore a specialist subject before committing to a longer programme of study.

Teaching schedule

• Weeks 1-5: work through interactive online materials on KEATS, King’s virtual learning environment, alongside weekly supervised webinars.
• Weekly live webinars
• Weeks 6-8; assessed route only: complete your assessments, with a one-hour online Q&A session to address assessment-related questions.
• The combination of independent online learning and scheduled sessions allows you to organise your study around other commitments while following a structured course timetable.