ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses key issues and challenges in implementing prevention programs for depression in Japanese educational settings. The implementation of school-wide mental health programs is still embryonic in Japan. Simply translating evidence-based interventions developed and evaluated in western countries poses numerous challenges due to differences in education systems, mental health services and cultural values. We present the way in which three CBT programs for the prevention of depression in Japanese schools were implemented, and discuss how the challenges in their adaptation and implementation were addressed. A framework for the future implementation and dissemination of evidence-based programs for depression in children and adolescents, and how this framework may be applied in different cultures, is explored.
