Healthy mental, emotional, and behavioral (MEB) development is a critical foundation for a productive adulthood. Much is known about strategies to support families and communities in strengthening the MEB development of children and youth, by promoting healthy development and also by preventing and mitigating disorder, so that young people reach adulthood ready to thrive and contribute to society. Over the last decade, a growing body of research has significantly strengthened understanding of healthy MEB development and the factors that influence it, as well as how it can be fostered. Yet, the United States has not taken full advantage of this growing knowledge base. Ten years later, the nation still is not effectively mitigating risks for poor MEB health outcomes; these risks remain prevalent, and available data show no significant reductions in their prevalence. Fostering Healthy Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Development in Children and Youth: A National Agenda examines the gap between current research and achievable national goals for the next ten years. This report identifies the complexities of childhood influences and highlights the need for a tailored approach when implementing new policies and practices. This report provides a framework for a cohesive, multidisciplinary national approach to improving MEB health.

It provides overviews of the key psychological processes affecting mental health, such as development, attachment, emotion regulation, attention and draws out the implications for preventive measures. There is emphasis on the importance of how initiatives in parenting and education can promote children's emotional well-being.

This comprehensive guide provides overviews of the key psychological processes affecting mental health, such as development, attachment, emotion regulation and attention, and draws out the implications for preventive measures and promotion of emotional well-being. The authors, from a range of professional disciplines, emphasise the importance of early intervention and prevention, exploring in particular how initiatives in parenting and education can promote children's emotional well-being. The topics they cover include: * the prevention and management of addiction and eating disorders * the development of culturally sensitive services for ethnic minority children and families * the impact of parenting programmes and the life skills education programmes in schools * ways of meeting the mental health needs of children who are socially excluded, homeless or in local authority care. Providing examples of a broad range of projects and initiatives in Britain and other European countries, this handbook will be an invaluable resource for all professionals working in child and adolescent mental health.

This book examines the nature of a range of psychological disorders. Case studies are presented which analyses the parent's ability to still function in the role of care-giver, and the impact that the illness can have on children.

On 20 November 2009, the global community celebrates the 20th anniversary of the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the unique document that sets international standards for the care, treatment and protection of all individuals below age 18. To celebrate this landmark, the United Nations Children's Fund is dedicating a special edition of its flagship report The State of the World's Children to examining the Convention's evolution, progress achieved on child rights, challenges remaining, and actions to be taken to ensure that its promise becomes a reality for all children.

Over the past two decades, there has been a major increase in research into the effects of the arts on health and well-being, alongside developments in practice and policy activities in different countries across the WHO European Region and further afield. This report synthesizes the global evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well-being, with a specific focus on the WHO European Region. Results from over 3000 studies identified a major role for the arts in the prevention of ill health, promotion of health, and management and treatment of illness across the lifespan. The reviewed evidence included study designs such as uncontrolled pilot studies, case studies, small-scale cross-sectional surveys, nationally representative longitudinal cohort studies, community-wide ethnographies and randomized controlled trials from diverse disciplines. The beneficial impact of the arts could be furthered through acknowledging and acting on the growing evidence base; promoting arts engagement at the individual, local and national levels; and supporting cross-sectoral collaboration.

The Springer Series on Human Exceptionality Series Editors: Donald H. Saklofske and Moshe Zeidner Handbook for School-Based Mental Health Promotion An Evidence-Informed Framework for Implementation Alan W. Leschied, Donald H. Saklofske, and Gordon L. Flett, Editors This handbook provides a comprehensive overview to implementing effective evidence-based mental health promotion in schools. It addresses issues surrounding the increasing demands on school psychologists and educational and mental health professionals to support and provide improved student well-being, learning, and academic outcomes. The volume explores factors outside the traditional framework of learning that are important in maximizing educational outcomes as well as how students learn to cope with emotional challenges that confront them both during their school years and across the lifespan. Chapters offer robust examples of successful programs and interventions, addressing a range of student issues, including depression, self-harm, social anxiety, high-achiever anxiety, and hidden distress. In addition, chapters explore ways in which mental health and education professionals can implement evidence-informed programs, from the testing and experimental stages to actual use within schools and classrooms. Topics featured in this handbook include: · A Canadian perspective to mental health literacy and teacher preparation. · The relevance of emotional intelligence in the effectiveness of delivering school-based mental health programs. · Intervention programs for reducing self-stigma in children and adolescents. · School-based suicide prevention and intervention. · Mindfulness-based programs in school settings. · Implementing emotional intelligence programs in Australian schools. The Handbook for School-Based Mental Health Promotion is a must-have resource for researchers, clinicians and related professionals, and policymakers as well as graduate students across such interrelated disciplines as child and school psychology, social work, education policy and politics, special and general education, public health, school nursing, occupational therapy, psychiatry, school counseling, and family studies.

This book comprehensively reviews mindfulness-based interventions for specific areas of functioning in children and adolescents, with refreshing insights and perspectives. Based on a solid foundation of research and practice, it presents the nature of mindfulness, examines the psychological processes that may underlie mindfulness, and explores how to assess it. Mindfulness is about how we can be attentive to and present for everything that happens in our daily lives. This book draws upon current research in the field in order to explore topics such as the fundamentals of teaching mindfulness to children and adolescents; assessment of mindfulness in this population; use of mindfulness in educational settings; and clinical applications in mental health, including substance abuse, hyperactivity, and intellectual and developmental disabilities. With contributions from internationally-renowned clinicians and scholars, this book provides a balanced account of the strengths and weaknesses of current research, and how mindfulness-based programs can be used to enhance wellbeing and reduce suffering. This book will be of great interest for academics, scholars and post graduate students involved in the study of the mental health of children and adolescents. It will also appeal to psychologists, psychiatrist, nurses, social workers, rehabilitation therapists and others, such as school counsellors, who provide clinical care to children and adolescents.

With rapidly rising rates of mental health disorders, changing patterns of occurrence, and increasing levels of morbidity, the need for a better understanding of the developmental origins and influence of mental health on children’s behavioral health outcomes has become critical. This need for better understanding extends to both the growing prevalence of mental health disorders as well as the role and impact of neurodevelopmental pathways in their onset and expression. Addressing these changes in disease patterns and effects on children and families will require a multifaceted approach that goes beyond simply making changes to clinical care or adding personnel to the health services system. New policies, financing, and implementation can put established best practices and numerous research findings from around the country into action. The Maternal and Child Health Life Course Intervention Research Network and the Forum for Children's Well-Being at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine jointly organized a webinar series to explore how mental health disorders develop over the life course, with a special emphasis on prenatal, early, middle, and later childhood development. This series centered on identifying gaps in our knowledge, exploring possible new strategies for using existing data to enhance understanding of the developmental origins of mental disorders, reviewing potential approaches to prevention and optimization, and proposing new ways of framing how to understand, address, and prevent these disorders from a life course development perspective. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the series.

Anyone who works within children and adolescent mental health services will tell you what a challenging and complex world it is. To help prepare you, the authors have produced a clear introduction to child and adolescent mental health that takes you step-by-step on a journey through the subject. Beginning with the foundations, the book explores the common mental health concepts and influences that you can expect to encounter examining topics like the difference between emotional and mental health issues and how mental health problems develop. It then moves on to explore the vital skills that you will need to develop like effective communication and basic counselling skills, and introduces some of the common interventions like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Psychodynamic theory and Family work. Written by a multi-disciplinary team of passionate and experienced experts, the book strikes an effective balance between introducing the relevant theory and showing how this can be applied in the real world. It is an essential starting point to the subject of child and adolescent mental health and suitable for any students planning to support this group.