Conduct problems in adolescence - which include aggression and rule breaking behaviours – are a serious public health concern and can cause significant harm to individuals, families, and the community. Our team at the UCL Developmental Risk and Resilience Unit carries out research projects that aim to support more effective prevention and treatment of conduct problems. We want to gain a better understanding of both young people with and without conduct problems and their social environment. Once we better understand the challenges young people with conduct problems and those around them face, we will be in a better position to meet the individual needs of young people and their educators and parents/caregivers. 

In the Prosocial Project, we are exploring how teenagers process positive social signals – such as happy faces and laughter – and how this processing relates to behaviour. We also want to look at whether promoting sensitivity to positive social signals via a gamified intervention helps to promote prosocial behaviour. If this project is successful, we hope that this gamified intervention can eventually become part of schools’ behaviour management package in a way that is sustainable and does not require additional resources