Population Health Approaches to Defining the Mental Health Problems of Australian Adolescents

A cross‐sectional representative population survey was used to identify adolescents with mild to moderate mental health problems and to identify areas for possible intervention. Outcome variables were depression, stress, behavioural problems and study problems. An analysis was carried out examining associations between mental health problems and socio‐demographic and behavioural variables. A sizeable proportion reported one or more mental health problems. Among those reporting extreme levels of these problems, few had sought help or talked to someone. The paper concludes that population health data provide useful information that could be addressed through school programmes to enhance resilience and promote adolescent mental health.