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Effective public mental health policy and practice call for a trained workforce that is competent in mental health promotion and delivering on improved mental health. Systematic information on what competencies are needed for mental health promotion practice in the health sector is lacking. The purpose of this paper is to investigate these competencies for mental health promotion.

A Delphi survey was carried out to facilitate a consensus-building process on development of the competencies. Professionals (n=32) working in mental health and mental health promotion took part in the survey. The experts were asked their professional views on the needed competencies as well as to rank the importance of the competencies. Two questionnaire rounds were carried out in order to reach consensus.

In total, 16 main competencies and 56 subcompetencies were identified through the Delphi survey. The competencies were divided into three category domains: theoretical knowledge, practical skills and attitudes and values each category representing an important aspect of mental health promotion competency.

The competencies provide a resource for workforce development, as they illustrate what theoretical knowledge, practical skills and attitudes and values are required. They provide an instrument to enhance education and training programmes in mental health promotion contributing to a more skilled workforce and improved quality of practice as well.

A strong consensus was reached within the participating experts, them viewing all competencies as important. The identified competencies highlight the great variety of different competencies and competency areas that are needed for effective mental health promotion practice in the health sector.

The purpose of this study is to systematically review how positive mental health literacy has been conceptualised and measured over the last 20 years. Positive mental health recognises the benefits of feeling good and functioning effectively. Developing clarity around conceptualisation and knowledge (or literacy) of what constitutes positive mental health is an area of continued development, and an important step in measuring the impact of mental health promotion.

A systematic review of literature was performed to investigate how positive mental health literacy has been conceptualised and measured over the last 20 years. Databases searched included EDS, Scopus, ERIC, PsycINFO, CINAHL and SocIndex with fulltext. Search terms relating to positive mental health were combined with proximity operators within four words denoting knowledge, competence or literacy.

A total of 464 records were assessed on title level, with six articles included for final review. The final studies included three measures assessing participants’ knowledge of positive mental health, some of which included more distal themes such as awareness of coping strategies and emotional awareness. One measure, the Mental Health Promoting Knowledge – 10, stood out as the most fitting measure of positive mental health literacy.

Our review approaches an under reported area of study, highlighting an area in need for further development with a few limitations. When building the search strategy, care was taken to line it up with literacy around positive mental health and its synonyms. The word “mental health” without positive specification was omitted in the final search strategy, increasing the risk of it also omitting potential articles of interest.

Our findings therefore highlight a knowledge gap in relation to conceptualisations and measures of positive mental health literacy, unfolding an area for further development. A more harmonised understanding of what is meant by positive mental health is an important step towards clarifying the concept and facilitating future study of the topic. Measures of positive mental health literacy could be an important indicator for mental health promotion.

New ways of measuring positive mental health literacy can be a useful way to establish benefits of mental health promotion, taking a salutogenic approach to mental health.

These findings expose an apparent knowledge gap in relation to conceptualisations and measures of positive mental health literacy, highlighting an area in need for further development. Measures of positive mental health literacy could be an important indicator for mental health promotion.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate positive mental health (PMH) and factors related to it among those living alone in the sparsely populated area of the Lapland region.

The study utilises data from the Mental Health Survey of the Lapland region in Finland, covering 12 municipalities. The scores of short Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (sWEMWBS) were categorised into three levels of PMH. Logistic regression models were used to separately estimate the odds ratios for the high level of PMH compared with the moderate level of PMH and the low level of PMH compared with the moderate level.

Social support seemed to be very strongly associated with both low and high levels of PMH among people living alone. Participating in activities provided by organisations or societies decreased the odds of having low PMH. Among men, young age predicted low PMH.

The number of people living alone in Finland and other parts of Europe is increasing, yet there are few studies focusing on their positive mental health (PMH). Using scales such as sWEMWBS adds to the authors’ knowledge about the positive mental well-being of those living alone, especially in rural areas, thus making it possible to utilise mental health promotion interventions effectively and accordingly.

This article reviews individual risk factors for bullying, especially gender, age, aggressiveness, low intelligence and achievement, hyperactivity‐impulsiveness, low empathy, low self‐esteem, depression, unpopularity, and physical and biological features. It also reports individual, family and socio‐economic predictors and correlates of bullying discovered in a longitudinal survey of 411 London boys. The most important individual risk factors are low impulsiveness and low empathy, and they could be targeted in cognitive‐behavioural skills training programmes.