Fully Funded ADR UK 'Collaborative' PhD Studentship: Air Pollution and Adolescent Mental Health Research Using Linked Administrative Data

Funding providers: Administrative Data Research (ADR) UK through ESRC DTP

Subject areas: Data Science, Environment and Health

Project start dates: 

• 1 October 2023 (Enrolment open from mid-September)

Project description: 

This studentship will investigate associations between air pollution and mental health. The aim of this studentship is to improve the mental health and wellbeing for adolescents (aged 10-19 years old) in the UK by deepening our understanding of the impact of air pollution on common mental health disorders (CMD) such as anxiety and depression in adolescents. The studentship will explore how relationships vary by urban/rural regions, sex, age, ethnicity and socioeconomic status.

Potential Research Questions:

1. Is exposure to indoor air pollution at the home and school location negatively associated with adolescent mental health such as anxiety and depression?
2. Are associations between outdoor air pollution and mental health mediated by access to greenspace, house-moves and socioeconomic status?
3. How do relationships between different air pollutants (e.g. pm2.5, ozone, NOx) and adolescent CMDs vary by geographical location, including rurality, and socio-economic status?

The studentship will make use of the linked Welsh Environmental Dataset (WED) to summarise how exposure to air pollution varies for adolescents living in Wales across socio-economic deprivation and rurality. The WED will be linked with other health and administrative datasets such as the Welsh Longitudinal GP Dataset and Welsh Demographic Service Dataset to answer the defined research questions. 

A strength of the WED is that the exposures are available at the household and school location which means that multi-location exposures can be defined and this has not been done before in relation to air pollution and adolescent mental health (RQ 1).  WED also allows for other environmental factors to be included as covariates in the statistical analysis such as greenspace (RQ 2). Finally, WED will be utilised to conduct novel analyses such as Geographically Weighted Regression/Spatial Bayesian Statistics to answer questions such as RQ 3.

Eligibility

Candidates should have an excellent background in the social sciences, holding a first- or strong upper-second-class degree, or equivalent recognised by Swansea University.

English Language requirements: If applicable – IELTS 6.5 overall (with at least 6.5 in each individual component) or Swansea recognised equivalent. 

This scholarship is open to candidates of any nationality.

Funding

Studentship awards commence in October 2023 and will cover your tuition fees as well as a maintenance grant (currently £17,668 per annum for 2022/23 for full-time students, updated each year) and include access to an additional Research Training Support Grant (RTSG) and 3-month placement.

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