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Guidelines on mental health promotive and preventive interventions for adolescents: helping adolescents thrive

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Overview

These Guidelines on promotive and preventive mental health interventions for adolescents: helping adolescent thrive (HAT guidelines) provide evidence-informed recommendations on psychosocial interventions to promote positive mental health and prevent mental disorders among adolescents. These guidelines, the UNICEF/WHO HAT toolkit and other related implementation tools aim to support evidence-informed programming to achieve that goal. The HAT guidelines have been prioritized by WHO as one of its global public goods for health. The guidelines are based on evidence from studies of interventions delivered to 10–19 year-olds, with particular attention to:

  1.  universal interventions delivered to unselected adolescents;
  2. targeted interventions delivered to adolescents who are known to be at increased risk of mental disorders or self-harm, because of exposure to specific adversities (violence, poverty and humanitarian emergencies), chronic illness (HIV/AIDS) and/or particular life circumstances (adolescent pregnancy and/or parenthood); and
  3.  indicated interventions delivered to adolescents who present early signs and/or symptoms of emotional and/or behavioural problems but do not have a formal diagnosis of an emotional and/or behavioural disorder.

In reviewing the evidence, the primary outcomes of interest were improved well-being and functioning, reduced symptoms and incidences of mental disorders, and reduction in self-harm among adolescents. Other outcomes of interest included reduced risky behaviours (substance use and aggression), improved school retention, and healthier sexual and reproductive behaviours.

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