Giving children a voice: Concept development and foundation of the first Children's council "mental health" in Germany.

Background: As summarized by the Lancet Psychiatry Commission on youth mental health (McGorry et al., 2024), the statistics on mental disorders in children are alarming and highlight the need to expand and optimize research on childhood mental health. Although patient and public involvement (PPI) of those affected has the potential to boost both the acceptance and outcomes of research studies, the active involvement of young children, that is, primary school children, in mental health research has been neglected.