A narrative review of school-based preventive interventions on mental disorders and addictions

Abstract

In recent years, there has been considerable concern about the deterioration of mental health in children and adolescents, and there is a coincidence between mental disorders and addictive disorders. In view of this situation, it is important to review preventive interventions from the educational field, since it is considered an area of socialization par excellence of the subjects that can avoid or reduce exposure to adversities at an early age. For this purpose, a narrative review was carried out. The databases PubMed, PsycINFO and ERIC were searched. A total of 2096 records were retrieved from which 16 studies were selected. Most of the interventions reviewed adopted a universal approach. Most of the articles reviewed refer to interventions around 13–15 years of age and, in general terms, no specific actions are specified by groups according to their needs or risks. The intervention is usually applied by teachers in collaboration with other health experts. The focus is mainly on depression, anxiety, alcohol, cannabis and tobacco, but mental health is also promoted with reinforcement of emotional competence and training in social skills. Also, there is a scarce presence of programs on non-substance addictions and long-term follow-up studies. Based on what has been studied in this research, preventive initiatives are at a point of unquestionable reflection that requires redirecting efforts based on solid scientific evidence that determines approaches adjusted to the realities of the target populations and that helps to make decisions on when to carry out universal or specific interventions.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Discover Mental Health, 2026 · DOI ↗