Editorial: Can Improving Youth Mental Health Reduce Mortality?

Christel M Middeldorp; Alysa E Doyle

doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2024.04.009

Editorial: Can Improving Youth Mental Health Reduce Mortality?

J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2024 May 6:S0890-8567(24)00236-3. doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2024.04.009. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Christel M Middeldorp¹, Alysa E Doyle²

Affiliations

¹ Amsterdam UMC, Child Psychiatry and Psychology, Amsterdam Reproduction and Development Research Institute, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Arkin Mental Health Care, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Child Health Research Centre, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia; Child and Youth Mental Health Service, Children's Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service, Brisbane, Australia; Levvel, Academic Center for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: c.middeldorp@amsterdamumc.nl.
² Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; Center for Genomic Medicine, MGH, Boston, Massachusetts.

PMID: 38718974
DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2024.04.009

Abstract

It is well established that mental health conditions, including substance use disorders, are associated with premature mortality. A meta-analysis¹ has demonstrated that this association holds across a range of diagnoses. Although the effect is stronger for schizophrenia, depression and anxiety contribute to more deaths overall because of their high prevalence rates. Moreover, more than two-thirds of associated deaths were explained by natural causes.¹ The next logical questions, then, are as follows: which mechanisms underlie this association, and can they can be mitigated? In the current issue of JAACAP, Clark et al.² aim to tie mental health symptoms and substance use to the acceleration of biological aging.

Publication types

Editorial