Child promotion/preventions for mental health outcomes - From policy to actions and their effects

Child Promotion/Prevention Research Programme (ChiPP) will develop a research line that takes a system approach on promotion/prevention for child (0-18 years) mental health.

Given recent challenges of increased mental health problems and mental health inequalities among children due to differences according to SES, country of birth and gender, these outcomes will be targeted by the programme. Child mental health on a population level is not dependent on single promotion/preventive initiatives, but rather on the collective web of different initiatives provided by multiple actors on national and local level. Further, the success of a national public health policy is dependent on how well it is implemented by local authorities. Thus, the programme will have a strong emphasize on the local level, municipalities and county councils that are responsible for the vast majority of promotion/preventive actions.

 Four broad research questions that correspond to five work packages (WP) will be addressed that include: (1) what role national welfare programs have, (2) how steering policies on local level address child mental health and mental health inequality, (3) the extent and quality of promotion/preventive initiatives that are conducted on local level, and (4) which children participates in promotion/preventive initiatives on local level and their collective effect on child mental health and mental health inequality.