title: A focus on adolescence to reduce neurological, mental health and substance-use disability.
abstract: Globally, there is a crucial need to prioritize research directed at reducing neurological, mental health and substance-use disorders in adolescence, which is a pivotal age for the development of self-control and regulation. In adolescence, behaviour optimally advances towards adaptive long-term goals and suppresses conflicting maladaptive short-lived urges to balance impulsivity, exploration and defiance, while establishing effective societal participation. When self-control fails to develop, violence, injury and neurological, mental health and substance-use disorders can result, further challenging the development of self-regulation and impeding the transition to a productive adulthood. Adolescent outcomes, positive and negative, arise from both a life-course perspective and within a socioecological framework. Little is known about the emergence of self-control and regulation in adolescents in low- and middle-income countries where enormous environmental threats are more common (for example, poverty, war, local conflicts, sex trafficking and slavery, early marriage and/or pregnancy, and the absence of adequate access to education) than in high-income countries and can threaten optimal neurodevelopment. Research must develop or adapt appropriate assessments of adolescent ability and disability, social inclusion and exclusion, normative development, and neurological, mental health and substance-use disorders. Socioecological challenges in low- and middle-income countries require innovative strategies to prevent mental health, neurological and substance-use disorders and develop effective interventions for adolescents at risk, especially those already living with these disorders and the consequent disability.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Epidemiology and Pediatrics, Mailman School of Public Health and College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, 722 West 168 Street Room 1613, New York, New York 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Leslie L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Davidson
authors.affiliation: Child Study Center, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Department of Psychology, Yale University, 230 South Frontage Road, New Haven, Connecticut 06519, USA.
authors.forename: Elena L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Grigorenko
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Department of Neurology and Ophthalmology, College of Osteopathic Medicine, 965 Fee Road, Room A227, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Boivin
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7JX, UK.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rapa
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7JX, UK.|MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stein
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D003906:Developing Countries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000069581:Exposure to Violence / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000066511:Intimate Partner Violence / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008603:Mental Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019965:Neurocognitive Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D065886:Neurodevelopmental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000067073:Psychological Trauma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D000067453:War Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data