A/Prof Aliza Werner-Seidler (UNSW) - Preventing mental illness in young people

Abstract

The rates of mental illness have been increasing over the last two decades, most notably in young people. At the same time, prevention programs for depression and anxiety delivered to students at school are rising in popularity.

In this presentation, I will provide a snapshot of adolescent mental health in Australia, followed by a review of the literature into the effectiveness school-based prevention programs. I will then present data from the Future Proofing Study (N=6388), the largest school-based prevention trial undertaken which examines what happens when prevention programs are delivered at scale. I will contexualise this research into the broader context and talk about some of the challenges and possible solutions associated with delivering prevention programs within schools.