Description

In this segment, Dr. Alexis Brieant presents insights from a recent study investigating protective factors that support youth mental health. Although many children face mental health challenges—particularly those exposed to adverse life events or socioeconomic disadvantage—many also exhibit resilience. The study explores why some children are more likely to demonstrate resilience than others, focusing on community cohesion as a potential protective factor that may foster resilience in youth. It also examines how both risk and protective factors differ across geographic contexts (i.e., rural versus urban), aiming to better understand the complex ways in which the physical environment influences youth mental health outcomes.

Learning Objectives

A. Identify key risk and protective factors influencing youth mental health

B. Understand how variability across rural and urban areas can shape mental health outcomes among children and adolescents. 

C. Evaluate the implications for developing community-centered interventions and policies that support youth facing adversity or disadvantage.

Related Content Links

Urban versus rural environments – which is better for mental health?
How can nature connectedness and behaviours for learning be deliberately developed in children, adolescents and young adults? A systematic literature review
Longitudinal effects of green, blue, and gray spaces on early adolescent mental health in the United States

Paper Link

https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/camh.12764?af=R