The DOI matches its Crossref record; 43 of the 52 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Review of mental health promotion interventions in schools
Open accessAbstract
PURPOSE: The prevalence of mental disorders amongst children and adolescents is an increasing global problem. Schools have been positioned at the forefront of promoting positive mental health and well-being through implementing evidence-based interventions. The aim of this paper is to review current evidence-based research of mental health promotion interventions in schools and examine the reported effectiveness to identify those interventions that can support current policy and ensure that limited resources are appropriately used. METHODS: The authors reviewed the current state of knowledge on school mental health promotion interventions globally. Two major databases, SCOPUS and ERIC were utilised to capture the social science, health, arts and humanities, and education literature. RESULTS: Initial searches identified 25 articles reporting on mental health promotion interventions in schools. When mapped against the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 10 studies were included and explored. Three of these were qualitative and seven were quantitative. CONCLUSIONS: A range of interventions have been tested for mental health promotion in schools in the last decade with variable degrees of success. Our review demonstrates that there is still a need for a stronger and broader evidence base in the field of mental health promotion, which should focus on both universal work and targeted approaches to fully address mental health in our young populations.
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“Mental health promotion for young people has been increasingly embedded within education systems, 330 with an emphasis on sleep hygiene, physical activity, little alcohol and drug use, social connection, and cognitive-behavioural skills.”
From The Lancet Psychiatry Commission on youth mental health (2024) · cites this paper as [330]
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“Educational settings have a central role in promoting mental health, 329,330 recognising the warning signs of mental ill health, 331 and delivering prevention and intervention programmes.”
From The Lancet Psychiatry Commission on youth mental health (2024) · cites this paper as [330]
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Cites
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“However, although differentiated, it is important to note that the distinction is less rigid for young populations, because children develop skills as they mature [3] and skill development aimed at promoting well-being can have preventative effects [46].”
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“However, there is increasing evidence that some long-term effects are emerging and that although effects gradually decrease over time they can remain substantial [54].”
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“[56]); (2) a decade is a sufficient time-frame to examine impact and change; and (3) captures recent policy changes that may impact on design and delivery of interventions.”
BackgroundToward the integration of education and mental health in schools
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“Furthermore, such thinking is reflected internationally as several countries have been exploring ways of integrating health and education [2].”
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“For example, social and emotional learning (SEAL) is often used and interventions designed to promote effective mastery of social–emotional competencies aim to achieve greater well-being and better school performance by reducing risk factors and promoting protective mechanisms for positive adjustments [20].”
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“However, this raises issues for schools, as training will be central to successful implementation, but training for teachers cannot tackle mental health promotion in isolation from the practical difficulties of supporting children who have diagnosed conditions [41].”
Background
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Cited by
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Items 301–328 of 328
Halcomb, E. (2020) · An Introduction to Community and Primary Health Care · doi:10.1017/9781316711873.024
Guzys, D. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108868396.026
Allen, J., & Brown, R. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108868396.030 · Cited by 1
Brown, R. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108868396.025
(2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108868396.033
Community and primary health care roles
(2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108868396.019
Mcinnes, S., Peters, K., & Halcomb, E. (2020) · An Introduction to Community and Primary Health Care · doi:10.1017/9781316711873.008
Health-related program planning and evaluation
Whitehead, D. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108868396.014
Kinghorn, G. R., & Halcomb, E. (2020) · An Introduction to Community and Primary Health Care · doi:10.1017/9781316711873.026
(2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108868396.001
Exploring disability from a social model of health perspective
Brown, R. (2020) · An Introduction to Community and Primary Health Care · doi:10.1017/9781316711873.004
Community mental health nursing
Brown, R. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781316711873.016 · Cited by 1
Brown, R. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781316711873.015 · Cited by 4
Brown, R. (2020) · An Introduction to Community and Primary Health Care · doi:10.1017/9781316711873.023
Tori, K. (2020) · An Introduction to Community and Primary Health Care · doi:10.1017/9781316711873.027
(2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108868396.002
Halcomb, E. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108868396.017
Book of Beasties: Championing mental health in schools
Jayman, M., & Ventouris, A. (2020) · New vistas · doi:10.36828/newvistas.106
Brown, R., & Bouchoucha, S. (2019) · An Introduction to Community and Primary Health Care · doi:10.4135/9781446215159.n350
Cordell, A. (2018) · The Negotiation Handbook · doi:10.4324/9781351239547-25
“…and facilitators impacting implementation is highlighted among reviews on school-based interventions across different outcomes, such as physical activity [9–11], tobacco or substance use [12], mental health promotion [13], and technology use among teachers in education [14], to mention a few.”
Home visiting, risk assessment and safety
Guzys, D. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781316711873.014
Guzys, D. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781316711873.020
Luna, P., Losada, L., Rodrigo-Ruiz, D., Rodríguez-Donaire, A., & Cejudo, J. (2026) · International Journal of Mental Health Promotion · doi:10.32604/ijmhp.2026.078092
Novakova, T., & Svoboda, P. (2025) · International Journal of Social and Psychological Aspects of Healthcare · doi:10.51847/qsv95mjqe9
Sutikno, E. (2024) · Pakistan journal of life and social sciences · doi:10.57239/pjlss-2024-22.2.00563
“In addition, to ensure the protection of PwMI, it is necessary to increase public education and awareness (O’Reilly et al., 2018).”
BackgroundTeixeira, M. C. T. V., Tafla, T. L., Carreiro, L. R. R., Bolsoni-Silva, A. T., & Paula, C. S. (2024) · Psicologia - Teoria e Prática · doi:10.5935/1980-6906/eptphd16204.en
“The increase in mental health problems from preschool to school age has been shown in several studies, including in Brazil (Matijasevich et al., 2014; Membride, 2016; O’Reilly et al., 2018).”
Williams, R. D., & Lisbon, A. J. (2020) · Advances in religious and cultural studies (ARCS) book series · doi:10.4018/978-1-7998-4093-0.ch003 · Cited by 2
Rodriguez, K. N. (2021) · Advances in higher education and professional development book series · doi:10.4018/978-1-7998-6803-3.ch013
Metadata
- Authors
- O’Reilly, M., Svirydzenka, N., Adams, S., & Dogra, N.
- Affiliations
- University of Leicester (GB)
- De Montfort University (GB)
- Corresponding author
- O’Reilly, Michelle
- Venue
- Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
- Published
- 2018-05-11
- Volume
- 53
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 647-662
- ISSN
- 0933-7954 (ISSN-L)
- 1433-9285
- PMC
- PMC6003977
- OpenAlex
- W2801053462
- Cited by
- 408
- References
- 52
- Citations by year
- 2026: 52 · 2025: 54 · 2024: 78 · 2023: 63 · 2022: 51 · 2021: 35 · 2020: 54 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 13
- FWCI
- 6.38
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Open Research Online - ORO (The Open University) (acceptedVersion)
- DMU Open Research Archive (De Montfort University) (submittedVersion)
- Leicester Research Archive (University of Leicester) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › School Health and Nursing Education
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Keywords
- school-based mental health promotion, child and adolescent mental health, evidence-based interventions, intervention effectiveness, universal prevention, targeted interventions, school mental health policy, well-being
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Child, Female, Health Promotion, Humans, Male, Mental Health, School Health Services, Schools
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