SSM. Mental health最新文献

{"title":"Developing a regional mental health plan for Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: Results from a situational analysis, qualitative inquiry, and stakeholder engagement process","authors":"Francis Benedict ,&nbsp;Christina V. Mramba ,&nbsp;Sylvia Kaaya ,&nbsp;Joseph Kimaro ,&nbsp;Joy Noel Baumgartner ,&nbsp;Max Bachmann","doi":"10.1016/j.ssmmh.2025.100532","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ssmmh.2025.100532","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Mental health services in sub-Saharan Africa, including Tanzania, are little studied and hence challenges and opportunities are not well known, leading to difficulties in improving access to, and quality of, services to those in need.</div></div><div><h3>Objectives</h3><div><ul><li><span>1.</span><span><div>To conduct a situational analysis of mental health services in Dar es Salaam region,</div></span></li><li><span>2.</span><span><div>To consult with key stakeholders on mental health services delivery and planning, and</div></span></li><li><span>3.</span><span><div>To develop a regional mental health services plan.</div></span></li></ul></div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>This was a mixed-methods study, using the PRIME situational analysis tool, which provided a quantitative overview of mental health service needs, resources and activities. We conducted individual in-depth interviews (IDI, n = 5) with regional mental health service managers, and focus group discussions (FGD, n = 7) with 29 mental healthcare workers at primary healthcare facilities. We led a workshop with regional mental health service managers to discuss findings and to develop a regional mental healthcare services plan.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>The situational analysis identified a large burden of mental health care needs, but also a variety of health care services and providers in the region. The IDIs and FGDs found inadequate health facilities and staff providing mental health services, ineffective implementation of mental health policy regarding user fee exemptions and cost sharing, stigma in the community, and low community awareness. The financial burdens on patients were lower if patients were covered by health insurance, but health insurance has limitations regarding medication provision. The regional mental health plan proposes strengthening mental health services by integrating them into primary health care facilities, training health providers and other workers on mental health issues, strengthening referral systems, and increasing government and social insurance funding.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>Despite barriers hindering mental health service provision in Dar es Salaam, there are positive factors that could potentially make mental health delivery more effective and sustainable. Financial and human resource constraints will limit such developments. Implementation of the regional plan will require ongoing engagement with stakeholders, but has the potential to enhance access to and improve quality of mental health care in the region.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":74861,"journal":{"name":"SSM. Mental health","volume":"8 ","pages":"Article 100532"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145219490","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Meaning-Making of Dementia (MMoD) model: How people living with dementia navigate lived experience and cultural frames","authors":"Lisa Bormans,&nbsp;Baldwin Van Gorp","doi":"10.1016/j.ssmmh.2025.100531","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ssmmh.2025.100531","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>In Western Europe, dementia is commonly portrayed in media as a societal burden, emphasizing economic costs and loss of personhood. The goal of this research is to nuance those representations by focusing on the personal experiences of people living with dementia (PLWD) and their interpretations of the condition.</div></div><div><h3>Aims</h3><div>This study examines which and how aspects of lived experiences inform meaning-making (RQ1) and how this meaning-making relates to cultural perspectives represented in media (RQ2).</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 24 PLWD in Belgian care centers. Guided by interpretivism, reflexive thematic analysis was used, inductively for RQ1 and deductively for RQ2.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>The study identifies six interconnected factors in the participants’ lived experiences that shape their meaning-making: illness insight, self-concept, functional and physical changes, coping, social support, and prejudice and stigma. The personal meaning-making of PLWD reveals a nuanced mix of problematizing and de-problematizing perspectives, with the balance influenced by individual and social factors. This stands in stark contrast with the often one-sided media frames.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>Meaning-making in dementia is not a passive reproduction of dominant cultural narratives, but an active process shaped by personal experiences, self-concept, and social context. The <em>Meaning-Making of Dementia</em> (MMoD) <em>Model</em> introduced in this study offers a framework to understand this process more fully. It may inform care practices by highlighting how different factors interact in shaping how dementia is understood. Supporting these elements could help foster more coherent and less distressing interpretations of the condition.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":74861,"journal":{"name":"SSM. Mental health","volume":"8 ","pages":"Article 100531"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145219491","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Group dynamics in the delivery of the Reflective Fostering Programme: managing ‘face-threat’ risks in a mentalization-based intervention for foster carers","authors":"Po Ruby ,&nbsp;Carys Seeley ,&nbsp;Thando Katangwe-Chigamba ,&nbsp;Adaku Anyiam-Osigwe ,&nbsp;Caroline Cresswell ,&nbsp;Karen Irvine ,&nbsp;Nick Midgley ,&nbsp;Jamie Murdoch","doi":"10.1016/j.ssmmh.2025.100523","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ssmmh.2025.100523","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Interventions aimed at enhancing the reflective capacity of parents and carers (their ability to think about their own and their child's mental states, and how these underpin behaviour) aim to improve the quality of the carer-child relationship and child wellbeing. Evaluating how implementation of such interventions for foster carers interacts with the wider context of social care is vital for understanding how intervention mechanisms function. The Reflective Fostering Programme (RFP) is a mentalization-based, psycho-educational intervention delivered across 10 sessions to groups of 5–10 foster carers. Video-recordings of sessions were collected between April 2020 and December 2023 in three sites taking part in a randomised controlled trial in the United Kingdom. Group size in our sample ranged from 5 to 8 people (18 in total). Most participants were foster carers (n = 16), with the remaining (n = 2) kinship or connected carers. In close alignment with the demographic characteristics of carers in the UK, the majority (n = 15) were female, and White British (n = 17). Drawing on Goffman's concept of ‘face threat’, we used conversation analysis to examine the enactment of reflective fostering mechanisms within sessions to explore how the wider children's social care system shaped implementation and mechanisms of change. The development of supportive and trusting group dynamics was critical for facilitating engagement and participation with RFP. However, a supportive dynamic was contingent on carers navigating ‘interactional dilemmas’ to manage face-threatening risks to their personal and professional reputations. Active engagement with RFP relied on successful mitigation of these face-threats. In doing so, an interactional space was afforded for carers to practise and develop their reflective capacity. These findings highlight how implementation of RFP and other group-based foster care interventions need to carefully consider pre-existing relationships, the distribution of power, and strategies for creating a space for carers to overcome potential face-threatening risks and share difficult experiences. Social care services can facilitate implementation by creating a supportive environment which acknowledges and validates carer stress and vulnerability.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":74861,"journal":{"name":"SSM. Mental health","volume":"8 ","pages":"Article 100523"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145157510","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Migrant integration policies, regional social disadvantage, ethnicity and psychosis risk: Findings from the EU-GEI study","authors":"Salome M. Xavier ,&nbsp;Hannah E. Jongsma ,&nbsp;Charlotte Gayer-Anderson ,&nbsp;Diego Quattrone ,&nbsp;Sophie Blackmore ,&nbsp;Ilaria Tarricone ,&nbsp;Pierre-Michel Llorca ,&nbsp;Eva Velthorst ,&nbsp;Robin M. Murray ,&nbsp;Peter B. Jones ,&nbsp;James B. Kirkbride ,&nbsp;Craig Morgan ,&nbsp;Jean-Paul Selten ,&nbsp;Els van der Ven ,&nbsp;Srividya N. Iyer","doi":"10.1016/j.ssmmh.2025.100530","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ssmmh.2025.100530","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Compared with individual-level factors, macro-level exposures have received less attention in research on the increased risk of psychosis among ethnic minorities. We aimed to investigate the impact of migrant integration policies and area-level social deprivation on higher incidence rates among ethnic minorities.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>This study, conducted between 2010 and 2015, analysed incidence data from five countries from the EUropean network of national schizophrenia networks studying Gene-Environment Interactions [EU-GEI]. The total population was multiplied by the duration of case-ascertainment to estimate person-years. Cases with a non-organic psychotic disorder were included. Exposures included population group (based on self/parental region of origin/self-ascribed ethnicity) and area-level exposures including country-level migrant integration policies and regional-level proxies of social deprivation (percentages of unemployment, low education, owner-occupied houses, single person-households). Negative binomial mixed-effects regression models were fitted to calculate the association between individual and area-level exposures and incidence of psychotic disorders.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>The study included 1933 individuals. Supportive migrant policies (IRR: 0.71; 95 % CI 0.68–0.73) and higher percentages of owner-occupied houses (IRR: 0.97; 95 % CI 0.96–0.97) were associated with lower incidence of psychosis. Higher percentages of unemployment (IRR: 1.08; 95 % CI 1.07–1.09) and single person-households (IRR: 1.10; 95 % CI 1.05–1.14) were associated with higher incidence of psychosis. Accounting for policies and area-level social deprivation markers reduced risk estimates among all migrant/ethnic minority groups, compared to the majority population.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>This is the first study on the impact of migrant integration policies on psychosis incidence. Migrant integration policies and area-level social deprivation influenced psychosis risk in the overall and minority populations. These findings can inform policies and social epidemiological approaches to studying multi-level exposures in psychosis.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":74861,"journal":{"name":"SSM. Mental health","volume":"8 ","pages":"Article 100530"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145108665","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Pathways to child mental health: A structural equation model of economic deprivation, parenting, and internalizing problems","authors":"Leyla Ismayilova PhD ,&nbsp;Linyun Fu Ph.D. Candidate ,&nbsp;Kamran Salayev M.D., Ph.D. ,&nbsp;Shu-Hsiang Wang ,&nbsp;Emma Heidorn Ph.D. Candidate","doi":"10.1016/j.ssmmh.2025.100528","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ssmmh.2025.100528","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":74861,"journal":{"name":"SSM. Mental health","volume":"8 ","pages":"Article 100528"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145157511","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Drought, worry, and preparing for the future: The ethnopsychology of climate distress in Kilifi County, Kenya","authors":"Edna N. Bosire ,&nbsp;Syed Shabab Wahid ,&nbsp;Linda N. Khakali ,&nbsp;Benjamin Oestericher ,&nbsp;Felix Agoi ,&nbsp;Janeeta Shaukat ,&nbsp;Anthony Ngugi ,&nbsp;Rosebella Iseme-Ondiek ,&nbsp;Jasmit Shah ,&nbsp;Zul Merali ,&nbsp;Lukoye Atwoli ,&nbsp;Emily Mendenhall","doi":"10.1016/j.ssmmh.2025.100529","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ssmmh.2025.100529","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The impacts of climate change in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) presents a chronic and intensifying disaster, with drought, flooding, and extreme heat, presenting unique challenges and profound disruptions. Growing evidence links such events to ecological grief, ecological anxiety, and solastalgia – negative affective states that reflects responses to climate change related destruction of nature, species, culturally significant or sacred spaces, and other ways of life. While this literature is expanding in the Global North, little is known about how communities in SSA perceive and respond to deteriorating or depleting natural ecosystems. This article explores the ethnopsychology of distress precipitated by environmental stressors and its local conceptualization amongst residents of Kilifi County, Kenya. We interviewed 30 community members to investigate how experiences of drought, flooding and other ecological changes are linked to mental health, physical health as well as socio-cultural lives. Given the intimate ties between people and their natural environments, climatic shocks disrupted not only livelihoods but also cultural and spiritual connections to land. Participants described feelings of distress, loss of identity, hopelessness, depression, and anxiety – often associated with economic pressures such as food insecurity. With sweeping and swiftly changing ecological symptoms, our findings underscore the need to situate ecological change at the center of mental and public health discussions. Despite the hardships, our interlocutors suggested that resilience may occur in the small measures such as planting drought resistant crops, drilling more boreholes and storing food strategically for future droughts to stave off hunger, fear, and grief. Coping strategies ranged from adaptive (communal support, food storage, religious practices) to maladaptive (substance use, labor migration), highlighting the urgent need for psychosocial and structural support in ecologically vulnerable settings.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":74861,"journal":{"name":"SSM. Mental health","volume":"8 ","pages":"Article 100529"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145104732","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Foundations of the ALIVE National Centre for Mental Health Research Translation: Impact evaluation protocol","authors":"Nizam Abdu ,&nbsp;Caroline V. Robertson ,&nbsp;Justin Chapman ,&nbsp;Victoria J. Palmer ,&nbsp;Michelle Banfield ,&nbsp;Amanda J. Wheeler ,&nbsp;Amanda L. Neil","doi":"10.1016/j.ssmmh.2025.100525","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ssmmh.2025.100525","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The ALIVE National Centre for Mental Health Research Translation was established in 2021. Funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council's Special Initiative in Mental Health, the Centre aims to foster innovation in mental health care. Central to this aim is embedding the voices of those with lived experience into all Centre structures and activities including leadership and co-design of research priorities for mental health research implementation and translation. This manuscript details the Centre's impact evaluation protocol. Comprised of two Streams, the impact evaluation aims to 1) evaluate the implementation of the Centre's National Roadmap for mental health care ecosystem regeneration across the mental health sector; and 2) describe the broader social value created by the Centre. This work is intended to inform future research and funding decisions across the mental health sector and bring about a paradigm shift in mental health research translation in Australia.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":74861,"journal":{"name":"SSM. Mental health","volume":"8 ","pages":"Article 100525"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145157508","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mental disorders, cancers, and cardiovascular diseases mediate the associations of psychosocial factors with well-being and ikigai: a population-based cohort study","authors":"Zui C. Narita ,&nbsp;Kosuke Inoue ,&nbsp;Rieko Kanehara ,&nbsp;Hiroaki Hori ,&nbsp;Hikaru Ihira ,&nbsp;Nobufumi Yasuda ,&nbsp;Isao Saito ,&nbsp;Tadahiro Kato ,&nbsp;Kazuhiko Arima ,&nbsp;Hiroki Nakashima ,&nbsp;Kozo Tanno ,&nbsp;Nobuyuki Takanashi ,&nbsp;Kazumasa Yamagishi ,&nbsp;Isao Muraki ,&nbsp;Taiki Yamaji ,&nbsp;Motoki Iwasaki ,&nbsp;Manami Inoue ,&nbsp;Atsushi Goto ,&nbsp;Shoichiro Tsugane ,&nbsp;Norie Sawada","doi":"10.1016/j.ssmmh.2025.100527","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ssmmh.2025.100527","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>While the role of psychosocial factors in well-being appears plausible, evidence is still limited in Asian populations, and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We applied the g-formula to JPHC-NEXT data to examine the longitudinal association of social support, social trust, and social network (assessed via marital status, contact with relatives, contacts with friends, and group associations) at baseline with well-being and ikigai (purpose in life) at five-year follow-up. Causal mediation analysis was used to evaluate the total mediating role of three types of illnesses: mental disorders, cancers, and cardiovascular diseases. We evaluated exposures, mediators, and outcomes at three distinct time points, carefully addressed confounding, and accounted for both exposure-mediator and mediator-mediator interactions. We included 46,480 participants in the well-being analysis and 46,482 participants in the ikigai analysis. The mean age was 61.9 ± 8.60 years, and 25,240 participants (54.3 %) were women. Psychosocial factors were consistently associated with an increased risk of diminished well-being. The adjusted RRs (95 % confidence intervals) were: low social trust, 2.49 (2.08–3.07); absence of contacts with relatives, 1.48 (1.26–1.76); and absence of group associations, 1.32 (1.16–1.51). Similar adjusted RRs were observed for diminished ikigai. Proportion mediated by three types of illnesses for the pathways to diminished well-being and ikigai was: low social trust, 9.0 % and 18.0 %; absence of contacts with relatives, 26.0 % and 27.0 %; and absence of group associations, 14.2 % and 31.1 %, respectively. Psychosocial factors may influence individuals’ illnesses, which, in turn, lead to well-being—a crucial outcome for both individuals and society as a whole.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":74861,"journal":{"name":"SSM. Mental health","volume":"8 ","pages":"Article 100527"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145010610","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Psychometric properties of the English-language difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-16 for 15-18-year-old adolescents in the Western Cape of South Africa","authors":"C. Ward Smith ,&nbsp;K. Sorsdahl ,&nbsp;J.R. Pozuelo ,&nbsp;C. van der Westhuizen","doi":"10.1016/j.ssmmh.2025.100522","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ssmmh.2025.100522","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Introduction</h3><div>Given that emotion regulation (ER) is associated with mental health conditions, including depression and anxiety, among adolescents, it is vital to have psychometrically sound ER measures. However, validated ER measures for South African adolescents are scarce. This study addresses this gap by evaluating the psychometric properties of the English-language Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale–16 (DERS-16) among South African adolescents in the Western Cape.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 474 students aged 15–18 years from 12 high schools in the Western Cape. The survey assessed sociodemographic characteristics, ER, depression and anxiety. Psychometric properties of the DERS-16 were assessed, including internal consistency, test-retest reliability, convergent validity, and exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>The DERS-16 displayed excellent internal consistency (α = 0.93), average test-retest reliability (r = 0.64), and strong convergent validity with both the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D-10; r = 0.72) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7; r = 0.69). A weaker but significant negative correlation was found with the ER Skills Questionnaire (ERSQ; r = −0.26). Exploratory factor analysis proposed a novel two-factor model with loadings ranging from 0.39 to 0.86. Confirmatory factor analysis provided additional support for the two-factor structure, with acceptable fit indices (CFI = 0.91, TLI = 0.89, RMSEA = 0.089).</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>The DERS-16 is a sound tool for measuring ER difficulties among older South African adolescents, thus addressing the gap in such measures for this setting. Given that ER is crucial for adolescent mental health, this research underscores the need for ongoing development and validation of ER tools tailored to South African adolescents.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":74861,"journal":{"name":"SSM. Mental health","volume":"8 ","pages":"Article 100522"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145026476","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Can lay health workers contribute to the prevention and management of adverse childhood experiences in low- and middle-income countries?","authors":"Subash Thapa ,&nbsp;Anila Khatiwada ,&nbsp;Kedir Y. Ahmed ,&nbsp;Julaine Allan","doi":"10.1016/j.ssmmh.2025.100524","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ssmmh.2025.100524","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Community-based mental health initiatives led by lay health workers (LHWs) across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have demonstrated some success in improving mental health outcomes for the general population. However, evidence is lacking on their effect on improving childhood mental health. There is potential to utilize this workforce to address the underlying causes of mental health burdens rooted in child maltreatment and familial dysfunction. Expanding the role of LHWs to address adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) offers a promising strategy for improving child and family mental health and well-being. LHWs can serve as first-line responders by identifying at-risk children and families and addressing the problems through parental education and support. However, the success of such interventions depends on providing adequate training and supervision to LHWs, as well as ensuring that a robust referral system exists at the primary health care level to address the mental health needs of affected children and families. LHWs, who are properly trained and supervised, can potentially play an important role in addressing ACEs and associated mental disorders in LMICs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":74861,"journal":{"name":"SSM. Mental health","volume":"8 ","pages":"Article 100524"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145018953","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}