Towards a Psychosociopolitical Approach to Mental Health: Individual and Societal Determinants of Mental Illness and Health in Adults

Dear Colleagues,

The World Health Organization describes mental health not as merely the absence of mental illness, but as a state of mental well-being where a person is able to successfully cope with the stresses of life, to live fully and according to personal values and abilities, and to engage in learning, working and contributing well to their community. Mental health is determined by the interaction and/or compounding effects of multi-level factors, including individual (e.g., genetic risk factors, inflammatory conditions, emotional regulation skills); interpersonal (e.g., social support, emotional validation by others, interpersonal stressors, social competence), and structural sociopolitical (e.g., security, poverty, generational wealth, job security, income inequality, political conflicts). Additionally, individual beliefs on mental health and illness, on evidence-based mental health solutions, as well as social representations of mental health and illness, contribute to individuals’ knowledge and/or perceptions of available mental health resources, and to their attitude towards mental health care professionals and services.

With this Special Issue, we aim to contribute to a multi-level and socio-ecological understanding of mental health and illness, and the associated protective and risk factors. Studies that are conducted within a biopsychosocial framework, and integrate neurobiophysiological correlates of psychological processes and mental health indicators, are encouraged, as are studies adopting a socio-ecological approach to the mental health of individuals from minoritized communities.

Studies that are within the scope of this Special Issue:

• Theoretical and position papers and reviews on multi-level socio-ecological approaches to mental health and illness, especially, but not limited to, the mental health of individuals from minoritized communities and/or vulnerable people;
• Quantitative studies that present a multi-level approach to mental health and illness (e.g., that integrate genetic, biological, psychological, and/or sociological outcomes);
• Qualitative studies on personal beliefs, social representations, and societal attitudes towards mental health and illness, and/or towards evidence-based psychological practice;
• Studies on mental health and illness literacy, including correlational and longitudinal psychosocial factors associated with mental and illness literacy;
• Studies that explore sociopolitical determinants of mental health and illness, and/or sociopolitical determinants of access to or efficacy of mental health interventions;
• Cross-cultural studies of mental health and illness, and the comparative efficacy of psychological interventions (including studies on treatment integrity and cultural sensitivity);
• Psychometric studies of new or adapted measures of psychosociopolitical factors associated with mental health and illness in samples of individuals from minoritized and/or vulnerable groups.

Dr. Sérgio Carvalho
Dr. Teresa Forte
Guest Editors

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• mental health
• socio-ecological models
• psychosociopolitical risk and protective factors for mental health
• evidence-based practice
• social representations of health(care)
• vulnerable populations