Advancing Adolescent Mental Health Science in Africa: Measurement, Mechanisms, and Meaning

The Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) seeks to advance Adolescent Mental Health (AMH) science in Africa through (1) a core scientific project following up an existing cohort of 1536 adolescents to enrich measurement approaches of AMH outcomes and investigate the mechanisms driving them; and (2) an ecosystems’ strengthening initiative delivering open science assets and training opportunities.The scientific core aims to:1.1 Use newly collected data (ages 18-24), and data-driven approaches, to build a contextually valid framework that captures, and situates mental disorders, within a full spectrum of AMH outcomes, across a range of dimensions ('Measurement').1.2 Harness the power of this individual-level data, augmenting it with longitudinal family and household surveillance data, to investigate the biological, psychological, and social mechanisms of, and pathways to, AMH outcomes ('Mechanisms').1.3 Co- create enriched understandings of measurements and mechanisms through lived experience engagement and nested qualitative cohorts ('Meaning'). The ecosystems’ strengthening aims to:2.1 Contribute quality open science datasets, hosted within a trusted research environment. 2.2 Build AMH expertise, create opportunities for African researchers to use mental health data, and collaborate with continental partners on data use and training.Together, these will drive insights across AHRI’s AMH Research Strategy’s objectives and foster collaboration.