The MMAPP initiative is a UNICEF-led effort to close the data gap on mental health among adolescents and young people at the population level. With the support of experts, it is achieved by developing a culturally adaptable and clinically validated data collection tool, which is initially integrated into the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS).
The initiative aims to produce guidelines for cultural adaptation and data interpretation and to establish a set of global indicators on mental health of adolescent and young people for promoting standardized data collection and reporting across countries and regions. It is also focused on disseminating knowledge products for capacity strengthening, for data-driven advocacy, and for informing effective policies and programming.
The mental health data collection module developed through the MMAPP initiative will be first launched as part of the 7th round of MICS, the multi-topic household surveys that collect data on a wide range of indicators related to adolescents’ and young people’s wellbeing such as educational achievement and health outcomes. They also collect data on their living conditions like their household characteristics, their access to clean water and sanitation or the types of work activities they engage in. Integrating the mental health module into MICS will make it possible to analyze mental health outcomes more holistically to expand the understanding of the environment in which adolescents and young people live and how they correlate with outcomes in their mental health.