Citation

Catalano RF, Kellogg E. J. Adolesc. Health 2020; 66(3): 265-267.

Affiliation

Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Washington, District of Columbia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jadohealth.2019.12.003

PMID

32029200

Abstract

Over the past decade, research has clearly demonstrated that healthy mental, emotional, and behavioral (MEB) development is critical to the foundation of a productive adulthood. Yet despite this understanding, MEB disorders continue to threaten adolescents across the United States. Half of all adolescents have had at least one diagnosable mental disorder—anxiety disorders are the most common (31.9%), followed by behavior disorders (19.1%), depression (14.3%), and substance disorders (11.4%). (Data in this paragraph are taken from the National Institutes of Health website, https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness.shtml.) About 40% of young people who meet the criteria for one of these disorders also meet the criteria for at least one of the others.

The latest in a series of three consensus reports from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), Fostering Healthy Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Health in Children and Youth: A National Agenda (2019), urges a broad-based effort to improve MEB health for children and youth, organized under the Decade of the Child [1]. Similar to the past NASEM reports on this topic, this one explores the predictors of and influences behind MEB outcomes, as well as a variety of strategies for reducing risk, enhancing protection, and promoting healthy MEB development. In addition, this report highlights the importance of adolescence in the promotion of lifetime MEB health. Because most MEB disorders emerge by age 24 years, adolescence and young adulthood are crucial times for effective interventions to prevent risks and promote positive development. Ensuring healthy MEB development in adolescents not only decreases lifetime risk for MEB disorders but also serves as a protective factor for future generations.

This report builds on and updates two previous reports.

Language: en