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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.

This paper aims to explore how the term “mental health literacy” (MHL) is defined and understand the implications for public mental health and educational interventions.

An extensive search was conducted by searching PubMed, ERIC, PsycINFO, Scopus and Web of Science. Keywords such as “mental health literacy” and “definition” were used. The publication year ranges from 1997 to 2023.

In total, 17 papers met the inclusion criteria. Three distinct themes characterise the definitions of MHL: cognitive understanding; affective empowerment; and behavioural change. In the mental health educational context, inspiration, transformation and practice can be viewed as three stages for curriculum development.

Despite conducting a systematic literature review, there remains the possibility that certain relevant studies may not have been identified. Specifically, the selection criteria prioritise papers that explicitly addressed MHL.

Traditional educational approaches prioritise knowledge dissemination and attitude change; integrating MHL into mental health well-being curriculum advocates for action-oriented intervention to address mental health challenges.

Understanding different definitions and concepts in a field can be valuable for consolidating shared understandings, highlighting tensions and contradictions, and enhancing communication among researchers. Ironically, perhaps, the process also highlights the provisional nature of these definitions.

The exploration of MHL with three themes of definitions sheds light on the understanding of this concept. Three core themes in MHL definitions guide future curriculum development. This study underscores the importance of prioritise action-oriented intervention in mental health education, emphasising the need to move beyond knowledge dissemination towards transformative practices that promote holistic mental well-being.

Stigma towards severe mental illness (SMI) is widespread, exacerbating mental health problems, and impacting on help-seeking and social inclusion. Anti-stigma campaigns are meeting with success, but results are mixed. Earlier intervention to promote positive mental health literacy rather than challenge stigma, may show promise, but little is known about stigma development or interventions in younger children. The purpose of this paper is to investigate children’s knowledge, attitudes and behaviour towards SMI and whether we can positively influence children’s attitudes before stigma develops.

A cross-sectional study investigated mental health schema in 7-11 year olds. An experimental intervention investigated whether an indirect contact story-based intervention in 7-8 year olds led to more positive mental health schema.

Young children’s schema were initially positive, and influenced by knowledge and contact with mental illness and intergroup anxiety, but were more stigmatising in older girls as intergroup anxiety increased. The indirect contact intervention was effective in promoting positive mental health schema, partially mediated by knowledge.

Intervening early to shape concepts of mental illness more positively, as they develop in young children, may represent a more effective strategy than attempting to challenge and change mental health stigma once it has formed in adolescents and adults.

This study is the first to investigate an intervention targeted at the prevention of stigma towards SMI, in young children, at the point that stigma is emerging.

This final chapter draws together the key findings presented in the preceding pages and considers emergent conclusions and implications for mental health and wellbeing in schools. The author draws upon the evidence presented by the book’s eclectic range of contributors and the health promoting schools’ (HPSs) framework to provide a road map of what an effective whole school approach (WSA) might look like moving forward. Crucially, lessons from recent crises in education, including COVID-19-driven changes in pathways to support, are highlighted as pivotal factors in a future vision which sees schools as an effective and sustainable frontline force to help tackle the global burden of child and adolescent mental health through a proactive, preventive stance. With this future focus in mind, next steps are considered in terms of developing effective and sustainable mental health and wellbeing support for all within healthy school settings.

The purpose of this review was to examine Indian research on help-seeking for mental health problems in adults.

Original Indian research studies on help-seeking for mental health, published from the year 2001−2019 were searched on PubMed, EBSCO, ProQuest and OVID using a set of relevant keywords. After applying exclusion criteria, 52 relevant research studies were identified.

The reviewed studies spanned a variety of themes such as barriers and facilitators to help-seeking, sources of help-seeking, causal attributions as well as other correlates of help-seeking, process of help-seeking and interventions to increase help-seeking. The majority of these studies were carried out in general community samples or treatment-seeking samples. Very few studies incorporated non-treatment seeking distressed samples. There is a severe dearth of studies on interventions to improve help-seeking. Studies indicate multiple barriers to seeking professional help and highlight that mere knowledge about illness and availability of professional services may be insufficient to minimize delays in professional help-seeking.

Help-seeking in the Indian context is often a family-based decision-making process. Multi-pronged help-seeking interventions that include components aimed at reducing barriers experienced by non-treatment seeking distressed persons and empowering informal support providers with knowledge and skills for encouraging professional help-seeking in their significant others may be useful.

Mental health training programs exist to assist the public with aiding people experiencing mental distress. This study aims to examine the five steps of the Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) ALGEE action plan to assess which steps were used most frequently and how personal characteristics were associated with utilization.

Individuals completing MHFA either at public schools with students ranging in age from 5 to 18 or at a university in the Northern central area of the USA were invited to participate. Prior to MHFA, participants completed an initial questionnaire, which included demographic questions and questions assessing the use of the MHFA ALGEE action plan, which is a plan to provide help to someone experiencing mental distress. Follow-up questionnaires were completed every quarter to assess the ALGEE action plan utilization at three-, six- and nine-months after completion of MHFA. A comparison group of individuals, not completing MHFA, was also included.

After completing MHFA, individuals demonstrated an increase in using the ALGEE action plan at three- and six-months, but by nine-months there was a reduction in utilization. In general, age, gender and race did not usually influence the usage of the ALGEE action plan.

Although other studies have measured the efficacy of MHFA, those studies have focused on participant predicted behaviors. The present study measured self-reported behavior and compared the behaviors to a comparison group over time.

Since its initial development, numerous mental health literacy (MHL) definitions and associated measures have been created which have yet to be adequately evaluated. This paper aims to evaluate the psychometric properties of global MHL measures with the aim of identifying the most valid, reliable, responsive and interpretable measure.

A systematic review was conducted of studies that evaluated global MHL measures against at least one of the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) taxonomy properties; validity, reliability, responsivity or interpretability.

In total, 13 studies were identified which examined the psychometric properties of 7 MHL measures. Two of these seven measures were vignette format and the remaining five measures were questionnaires. The mental health promoting knowledge-10 and the multicomponent mental health literacy measure were the most psychometrically robust global MHL measures as they had the most psychometric properties rated as adequate. Both were shown to have adequate structural validity, internal consistency and construct validity. The two vignette measures, the MHL tool for the workplace and the vignette MHL measure, were both shown to only have adequate evidence for construct validity.

The current study is the first to systematically review research that evaluated the psychometric properties of global measures of MHL.

Evidence on implementing effective adolescent mental health promotion and prevention interventions in the European context is underdeveloped. The purpose of this paper is to identify evidence-based mental health promotion and prevention interventions for adolescents that have been developed and/or implemented across the school, community and digital settings in Europe. This review also sought to identify the relevant implementation processes in relation to what works, for whom and under what circumstances.

A narrative synthesis of the evidence was conducted which included two stages: a systematic search of studies assessing adolescent mental health promotion and prevention interventions; and a selection of interventions with the most robust evidence base, using pre-defined criteria, that have been either developed and/or implemented in Europe.

A total of 16 interventions met the inclusion criteria. The majority of interventions were school-based programmes. The review findings support the delivery of interventions aimed at enhancing young people’s social and emotional learning (SEL) and preventing behavioural problems. Results indicate that the effective delivery of SEL interventions on a school-wide basis could provide an important platform on which other universal interventions such as anxiety and bullying prevention, and targeted depression prevention could be developed in a multi-tiered fashion. There were a limited number of studies providing robust evidence on the effectiveness of suicide prevention, digital and community-based interventions.

This review identifies a number of robust evidence-based promotion and prevention interventions for promoting adolescent mental health. While the interventions have been implemented in Europe, the majority has not been evaluated rigorously and few included detailed information on the quality of programme implementation. Evidence of the effective cross-cultural transferability of these interventions needs to be strengthened, including more systematic research on their implementation across diverse country contexts.