This brief explores barriers and facilitators to adolescent depression screening in schools, highlighting stakeholder attitudes, resource needs, and strategies to improve implementation and equity.
Suggested Citation
Adolescent Depression Screening: Exploring Barriers And Facilitators Of Implementation In School Settings. (2022).
Project ASPEN. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University. Retrieved from https://cesp.rutgers.edu.
Rates of depression spike dramatically during adolescence. Despite broad scientific consensus that early detection and treatment are key to preventing negative, long-term effects of adolescent depression, current screening rates among this population remain extremely low. A broad review of key barriers and facilitators to school-based depression screening was conducted with the goal of informing policy and practice. This paper details key findings and recommendations from the review.
Prevention and early detection of adolescent depression is a national health priority. Current guidelines recommend routine screening for depression in children and adolescents and subsequently linking those in need to additional evaluation and care. Early detection through school-based screening has considerable potential to identify at-risk adolescents for referral to effective therapeutic services but significant barriers stand in the way of widespread implementation and sustainment. Thus, successful implementation of adolescent depression screening in a school-based setting should prioritize: (1) establishing positive attitudes toward mental health and depression; (2) securing sufficient financial and human resources; and (3) tailoring screening systems to account for individual school context.
Project ASPEN is a collaboration between a team of researchers from Rutgers University and the National Alliance on Mental Illness New Jersey (NAMI-NJ) to improve policy decision-makers’ access to credible and timely research evidence regarding different aspects of formulating and implementing sound youth mental health policies. The project is funded by a grant from the William T. Grant Foundation.