Overview
- The BMJ Global Health review analyzed 172 studies covering over 12 million adolescents in 166 countries and found 52 nations remain unrepresented.
- Most research depends on cross-sectional, school-based self-report surveys such as HBSC, GSHS and PISA, which omit out-of-school and marginalized youth.
- The study shows a strong focus on bullying and internalizing issues like anxiety and depression, while externalizing behaviours such as aggression receive little attention.
- Lead researchers cautioned that widely used assessment tools were developed on Western mental health constructs, raising concerns about their validity across diverse cultures.
- Authors recommend developing and validating culturally grounded instruments, incorporating multiple informants and using representative samples of minority, immigrant, disabled and indigenous adolescents.