Improving mental health literacy in adolescents: systematic review of supporting intervention studies

Abstract

Objective: Mental health literacy (MHL) in adolescents is an important issue as it can lead to early detection and recognition of mental illness. The aim of this systematic review was to explore the effect of supporting interventions on improving MHL in adolescents. Methods: Systematic literature review by searching the ScienceDirect, Scopus, PubMed, Crochrane and CINAHL databases. Seven of 1107 papers were included in the final review. Results: Supporting interventions for improving MHL in adolescents could be categorised into school-based and community-based. Both types used an education stand-alone strategy or an education plus contact-based group in their programmes. To provide knowledge of mental illness to adolescents, teaching methods should be interactive and use various media such as group discussion, videos and movies. Conclusions: School-based and community-based interventions were likely to improve MHL among adolescents. However, further research with objective tool measures is needed to confirm the findings.