ABSTRACT
The treatment of child and adolescent mental health challenges is now a matter of national urgency, and it is imperative that we identify treatments that work. This chapter provides 18 research-informed strategies for improving the mental health of young people. Individually-focused treatments that are directed solely at the child or teen have merit and can be helpful. However, these treatments alone often overlook the patient's social and situational influences (excessive time on devices, social and emotional contagion, social proof, unhelpful family dynamics, the classification effect, negative peer influences, and so on), leaving these important external factors under-appreciated and unchanged. Strategies and community-based changes to reverse the current increase in mental health challenges are proposed for parents, mental providers, and insurance and healthcare companies. This chapter includes specific recommendations that, if implemented, have the potential to improve the emotional well-being of children and their families.
