Sacramento Head Start Alumni Association

RESEARCH BRIEF ON ADOLESCENT MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL HEALTH

Oct 14, 2002

October 8- Child Trends has issued a research brief on positive
practices for adolescent mental and emotional well being. The brief
reviews numerous research studies on teens' mental health and emotional
well being. Researchers found "mental health programs that use
comprehensive, integrated approaches appear to be most effective in
preventing certain behaviors."

Observations from the review include:

*Measures of mental and emotional well-being tend to be related to each
other, suggesting that programs aimed at improving one aspect of
well-being may have positive effects on others.

*Adolescent mental and emotional well-being is associated with teens'
environments, including parents and family, school, and neighborhood
and
community characteristics.

*Positive changes in mental and emotional well-being can be promoted by
changes in the environment.

This is the fifth in a series of Research Briefs based on a
comprehensive review of adolescent development research. The series
covers reproductive health, physical health and safety, social skills,
education, mental and emotional health, and civic engagement as they
relate to adolescents.

"Promoting Positive mental and Emotional Health in Teens: Some Lessons
from Research" is available at
http://www.childrends.org/PDF/K5Brief.pdf

Source: Child Trends www.childtrends.org October 7, 2002