Shared experiences, shared support: A qualitative study on the importance of relatability in interpersonal relationships for youth mental health in South Africa.

Adolescence is a critical developmental period marked by significant changes, increasing the risk of mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. Understanding how youth engage with mental health resources is essential. This study explored the role of interpersonal relationships-including peer-to-peer, adult-youth, parent, teacher and mentor relationships, and interactions with mental health professionals-in shaping youth mental health engagement and identified factors influencing these relationships.

Effectiveness of mental health literacy intervention and contact-based education on knowledge, attitude, and stigma towards mental health among secondary school students in Chennai, South India: A cluster randomized controlled trial.

Background: Global trends indicate a rise in mental health disorders among youth, prompting need for effective interventions. Mental health literacy interventions have demonstrated benefits such as improved knowledge, treatment understanding, help-seeking behaviors, and stigma reduction. This study aimed to assess the impact of a comprehensive mental health literacy program on knowledge, attitudes, and stigma related to mental health among secondary school students in Chennai.

Making cities mental health friendly for adolescents and young adults.

Urban life shapes the mental health of city dwellers, and although cities provide access to health, education and economic gain, urban environments are often detrimental to mental health. Increasing urbanization over the next three decades will be accompanied by a growing population of children and adolescents living in cities. Shaping the aspects of urban life that influence youth mental health could have an enormous impact on adolescent well-being and adult trajectories.

COVID-19, the COVID-19 response, and racial injustice: Associations with depressive and anxiety symptoms among US adults from April 2020 to March 2021.

Background: People in the United States have faced numerous large and intersecting threats to their mental health since the onset of the coronavirus disease pandemic. This study aimed to understand the unique relationships between these co-occurring threats - including the police killings of unarmed Black people and the fight for racial justice - and how they affect mental health symptoms among various demographic groups.

Methods: Data on population mental health, state-level COVID-19 incidence rates, cases of police-involved killings, and occurrences of racial justice protests were analyzed.

Critical life course interventions for children and adolescents to promote mental health.

Childhood and adolescence are key developmental periods in the life course for addressing mental health, and there is ample evidence to support significant, increased investment in mental health promotion for this group. However, there are gaps in evidence to inform how best to implement mental health promotion interventions at scale. In this review, we examined psychosocial interventions implemented with children (aged 5–10 years) and adolescents (aged 10–19 years), drawing on evidence from WHO guidelines.

Sustainable Partnerships to Ensure Quality in Psychological Support (EQUIP) for Adolescents.

Ensuring that sustainable and effective mental health services are available for children and adolescents is a growing priority for national governments. However, little guidance exists on how to support service implementation. In Kenya, partnerships were formed among regional government, nongovernmental organizations, and universities to implement Ensuring Quality in Psychological Support (EQUIP)-Nairobi, a pilot project to train and supervise nonspecialists delivering psychological support to adolescents.