Nature and Nurture of Mental Health (C8896)

15 credits, Level 6

Autumn teaching

In this module, you will be introduced to the research of nature and nurture of mental health, an interdisciplinary and fast-moving field. You will learn key principles as well as historical aspects of research of nature and nurture of mental health.

More recent developments in this field will also be explored, focusing on a broad range of mental health phenotypes across the life span. You will have the opportunity to learn about:

  • nature and nurture of neurodevelopmental psychopathology (such as autism)
  • common mental health problems (depression, anxiety)
  • mental ageing (dementia).

You will also discuss ethical issues related to genetically informative human and animal studies of mental health.

Teaching

100%: Lecture

Assessment

100%: Coursework (Computer-based examination, Group presentation, Portfolio)

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 22 hours of contact time and about 128 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2024/25. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.