ABSTRACT
Background Rates of clinical and subclinical emotional health problems during adolescence [1-3], and the multiple detrimental health and social outcomes with which they are associated, such as suicide attempts, substance misuse, educational underachievement, unemployment and long-term psychiatric disorders [4-6], have
been a cause of concern for some time. Many emotional disorders have their onset in adolescence [6], and a marked increase in prevalence occurs from the middle to late teenage years [7,8]. Further, many teenagers who experience emotional health problems fail to receive help from appropriate services [9,10]. Such evidence provides strong arguments for community based interventions to support emotional health in early adolescence, and prevent or reduce the onset of disorders.
