Longer-term cost-effectiveness analysis of child and adolescent mental health interventions

I explore how to generate evidence for evaluating child and adolescent mental health interventions when trial longer follow-up data aren't available. Using the Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management programme from the STARS trial as a case study, I demonstrate how individual-level microsimulation can translate short-term outcome changes (like SDQ scores) into lifetime health, social and economic impacts. I also showcase resources that enable this kind of work, including the Atlas of Longitudinal Datasets for discovering existing data across the globe. This methodological approach offers a way forward for economic evaluations of childhood interventions where long-term trial data are constrained by time and budget, enabling policy decisions based on projected longer-term costs and benefits rather than short-term trial endpoints alone.

[https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/10I8ZB_wwR1loiOtYngxLvZsvzmhP3aqSYYcqHY7XGCo/edit?usp=sharing](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/10I8ZB_wwR1loiOtYngxLvZsvzmhP3aqSYYcqHY7XGCo/preview?usp=sharing)

Cited in presentation

Estimating the Lifetime Costs and Benefits of the Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management Intervention Using Data From 30 Months Follow-Up of the Supporting Teachers and childRen in Schools Trial

Atlas - Home

Catalogue of Mental Health Measures

The Triple Constraints of Project Management: Time, Scope, and Cost

Additional resources

LifeSim: A Lifecourse Dynamic Microsimulation Model of the Millennium Birth Cohort in England | International Journal of Microsimulation

https://github.com/ievask/lifesim-simulator

The effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the Incredible Years® Teacher Classroom Management programme in primary school children: results of the STARS cluster randomised controlled trial | Psychological Medicine | Cambridge Core

More information

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