MENTAL-HEALTH PROMOTION FOR YOUNG-PEOPLE - A PROPOSAL FOR A TRIPARTITE APPROACH

Child and adolescent mental health promotion programmes may be more ef fective if they include a combination of different approaches to healt h promotion rather than relying primarily on one approach. A group of complementary approaches that could be combined in a single programme include: (i) a community-wide media campaign to highlight the harmful effects of family discord on the mental health of young people; (ii) a school-based social skills programme to improve the social skills of young people; acid (iii) a life skills programme to build the competen ce of young people 'at risk' for developing mental health disorders. T he potential value of this particular combination of approaches is dis cussed with the aim of facilitating the development of innovative new child and adolescent mental health promotion programmes in Australia.