Designing mental health interventions informed by child development and human biology theory: a social ecology intervention for child soldiers in Nepal

Brandon A Kohrt; Mark J D Jordans; Suraj Koirala; Carol M Worthman

doi:10.1002/ajhb.22651

Designing mental health interventions informed by child development and human biology theory: a social ecology intervention for child soldiers in Nepal

Brandon A Kohrt, Mark J D Jordans, Suraj Koirala, Carol M Worthman

Health Service & Population Research

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

27 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The anthropological study of human biology, health, and child development provides a model with potential to address the gap in population-wide mental health interventions. Four key concepts from human biology can inform public mental health interventions: life history theory and tradeoffs, redundancy and plurality of pathways, cascades and multiplier effects in biological systems, and proximate feedback systems. A public mental health intervention for former child soldiers in Nepal is used to illustrate the role of these concepts in intervention design and evaluation. Future directions and recommendations for applying human biology theory in pursuit of public mental health interventions are discussed.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	27-40
Number of pages	14
Journal	AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY
Volume	27
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.22651
Publication status	Published - 8 Nov 2014

Keywords

Adolescent
Adolescent Development
Child
Child Development
Humans
Mental Health
Military Personnel
Nepal
Primary Prevention
Secondary Prevention
Stress, Psychological

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1002/ajhb.22651

Cite this

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Designing mental health interventions informed by child development and human biology theory: a social ecology intervention for child soldiers in Nepal

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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