A Report released by WHO on the youngster’s mental health & digital media

The World Health Organization (WHO) has published a study as a result of a virtual roundtable conference that was held in October 04, 2023. It examined guiding principles regarding adolescents who use online mental health material that is suitable for development.

Digital media & adolescents’ mental health

Twenty-two global health professionals who have specializations in digital media, child and adolescent mental health as well as suicide prevention engaged in the discussions. The individuals, who joined virtually from 16 distinct nations, were differed in terms of gender as well as geographic locations.

WHO conducted a quick evaluation before to the conference in order to assess the body of literature as well as viewpoint of young people through focus group sessions. The review investigated the data and also opinions of youth about the kind of online material that most effectively supports youth mental health as well as well-being. The experts of the conference mostly discussed both evidence and experience with regard to young people aged from 13-17 years, because there has been inadequate study carried out on audiences less than 13 years of age.

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The conversation resulted in the understanding of actionable points that would support youth and also guide future research in this area, but no there is no formation of guidelines or recommendations by WHO officially.

Guiding concepts

Based on the fast evaluation, ten guiding criteria for developmentally suitable virtual mental health material were established. In the pre-meeting poll, they were ranked by the experts and during the roundtable; essential factors for the application of guiding principles were highlighted.

Emotional relevance, useful guidance, accessible language, cognitive fit, diversity and inclusion, visual engagement, real-life tales, clarity based on evidences, accessibility as well as compliance with human rights norms are all covered by the 10 guiding principles.

Essential lessons gained while carrying out the guiding principles

A number of essential lessons for formulating as well as implementing the guiding principles that evolved from the roundtable discussion were as follows:

• Regardless of the fact that numerous publishers as well as digital platforms engage both children and adolescents in the same way, they all have unique neurocognitive as well as developmental profiles.
• Evidence for younger generations, less wealthy environments and also developmentally staged information in general was lacking.
• The rules should be updated frequently to take into account the requirements of youth as well as the continuously evolving digital environment.

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Some other guiding principles:

• Digital platforms may be very useful for raising awareness and spreading information, but in order to be fully successful, they must be a part of a larger, more comprehensive system of integrated mental health treatment. Content that blends online and offline support services and promotes assistance-seeking behavior can help with this in part.
• Narratives that might unintentionally hurt people should be avoided in content in order to lessen stigma.
• Aside from taking into account a range of experiences and backgrounds, content should also respect human rights agreements and be supported by empirical data.
• The design and development of content should involve young people.

The participants pointed out the major hardships of creating rules that is applicable to all circumstances, highlighting problems involving varied cultural norms, digitally inequalities, data privacy obstacles, as well as a shortage of research, especially in low-income environments. It is important to implement the ideas as well as guidelines which were covered in this meeting with regard to how they may influence various individuals.

Further actions

Though it is acknowledged that the process of developing comprehensive principles is outside the purview of this roundtable discussion, the insights gained from the discussion serve as a starting point for developing strategies to support the mental health of young people through online platforms, with the understanding that these strategies will inevitably change over time.

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To expand on this initial effort and assist the production and dissemination of developmentally appropriate online mental health information for youth, more work and engagement with stakeholders are essential. Further study, content validation procedures, establishing best practices, and including a variety of stakeholder groups might be the next stages.