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Mental Health Promotion in School: An Integrated, School-Based, Whole School

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Promoting Psychological Well-Being in Children and Families
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Abstract

About 20% of schoolchildren across different cultures experience mental health problems, such as conduct problems, anxiety, and depression, during the course of any given year and may need the use of mental health services (WHO, 2013). The most recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2013) shows that the prevalence of mental health difficulties amongst children and young people in the US has been increasing in the last 25 years, and related services are costing the country about US$247 billion per year. A report on adolescent health just published by WHO (WHO, 2014) portrays depression as the top global cause of illness and disability amongst adolescents, with suicide being the third biggest cause of death. The report mentions that half of mental health difficulties begin before the age of 14, underlining the need for early intervention and mental health promotion from an early age.

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© 2015 Carmel Cefai and Valeria Cavioni

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Cefai, C., Cavioni, V. (2015). Mental Health Promotion in School: An Integrated, School-Based, Whole School. In: Kirkcaldy, B. (eds) Promoting Psychological Well-Being in Children and Families. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137479969_4

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