Mental health

Last update: October 2021 | Next update: May 2023

Ensuring mental health and well-being in an adolescent’s formative years can foster a better transition from childhood to adulthood

Adolescence is a critical and formative period in which individuals begin their transition from childhood to adulthood. Ensuring that adolescents are fully supported in all facets of life, including their mental health and well-being, is critical for fostering this transition and laying the foundation for healthy and productive adulthoods.

Mental health conditions constitute a major burden of disease for adolescents globally. In 2019, it was estimated that one in seven adolescents experience mental disorders  [i]. This amounts to an estimated 166 million adolescents (89 million boys and 77 million girls) boys and girls globally.

 

SUB-TOPICS

Adolescent well-being encompasses many dimensions and UNICEF monitors several adolescent-specific indicators in the following vital areas: