Youth ages 7-15 are at a unique and formative time. They are experiencing multiple physical, emotional and social changes, including exposure to poverty, abuse, or violence, which can make adolescents vulnerable to mental health problems.
Promoting psychological well-being and protecting adolescents from adverse experiences and risk factors that may impact their potential to thrive are critical for their well-being during adolescence and for their physical and mental health in adulthood.
Some adolescents are at greater risk of mental health conditions due to their living conditions, stigma, discrimination or exclusion, or lack of access to quality support and services. These include adolescents living in humanitarian and fragile settings; adolescents with chronic illness, autism spectrum disorder, an intellectual disability or other neurological condition; pregnant adolescents, adolescent parents, or those in early and/or forced marriages; orphans; and adolescents from minority ethnic or sexual backgrounds or other discriminated groups.
Adolescents with mental health conditions are in turn particularly vulnerable to social exclusion, discrimination, stigma (affecting readiness to seek help), educational difficulties, risk-taking behaviors, and poor physical health. Many risk-taking behaviors for health, such as substance use, start during adolescence. Risk-taking behaviors can be both an unhelpful strategy to cope with poor mental health and can severely impact an adolescent’s mental and physical well-being.
There is an old saying that goes: families that play together, stay together. We all know that quality time with our family is paramount in building stronger relationships.
Family bonding time builds confidence, teaches youth about interacting with others, and create wonderful memories that last a lifetime. Studies show that when families spend quality time together, the chance of youth getting involved in dangerous activities drops dramatically