EARLY · Evaluating, Identifying and Reducing determinants of MHCs in Youth (EARLY)

EARLY project aims to reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases such as mental health conditions (MHC), especially depression, anxiety, stress disorders, substance use disorders and identify and reduce risky modifiable exposures for these conditions in youth. EARLY will pursue this goal through developing a comprehensive exposure matrix which can be adapted to emerging new risks, to understand youth, parents`, and stakeholders perceptions, we will conduct qualitative, interviews, by providing representative, multinational data on youth MHC and through developing, implementing and evaluating a multicomponent intervention. This will serve as an innovative model for promoting mental health and preventing MHC. EARLY is a mixed methods study which combines qualitative and quantitative methods. To provide a overview on youth mental health measures we will review measures, to provide data on exposure factors and whether exposure estimates vary by country, age, and gender, we will review studies and identify and merge available data on youth mental health; to provide insights on perceptions we will conduct focus groups with end-users. To provide representative data on youth MHC we will conduct a cross-sectional survey which are the baseline data for the multicomponent pilot intervention in five selected countries. To provide data on effectiveness and sustainability of interventions to reduce MHC we will conduct a multicomponent intervention. The results will be a a) model of youth mental health, b) a matrix of exposures, c) insights and understandings on end-users perceptions of youth mental health, d) knowledge on services for use in the European region and identification of needs; e) representative data on youth mental health which can be easily accessed by researchers and policymakers; f) data on effectiveness and sustainability of interventions to reduce both exposures and MHC in youth and finally g) non-communicable diseases risk reduction in adolescence and youth.