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Article History

Received: 27 July 2025

Accepted: 20 April 2026

First Online: 19 May 2026

Declarations

:

: Ethical approval was provided by the Yorkshire & The Humber—South Yorkshire Research Ethics Committee (REC reference: 21/YH/0060; IRAS project ID:293495). Public Health England (now UKHSA) has legal permission, provided by Regulation 3 of The Health Service (Control of Patient Information) Regulations 2002, to process patient confidential information for national surveillance of communicable diseases.

: Parents/carers were sent an invitation by post sent through PHE/UKHSA on behalf of the research team with a link to the website with the relevant information sheets and consent forms and they had the opportunity to ask any questions about the study. Parents/carers of CYP under 16 years of age were asked to complete an online parent/carer consent form. The young person was also asked to complete an online assent form to indicate their agreement. Consent was asked online from 16–17-year-olds (using the Young Person Consent Form) in line with Health Research Authority recommended processes. Informed consent was obtained from all participants and/or their legal guardian. All experiments were performed in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations (such as the Declaration of Helsinki).

: T.S. was Chair of the UK Health Research Authority and therefore recused himself from the Research Ethics Application. R.S. co-authored a book published in August 2020, titled Oxford Guide to Brief and Low Intensity Interventions for Children and Young People. All remaining authors reported no conflicts of interest.