The research group Mindhood develops, plans and conducts a seminar on Childhood Mental Health at the Faculty of Health Sciences and Public Health, Aarhus University.

The seminar provides students with a thorough introduction to existing knowledge of mental health in children and adolescents.

The background for the seminar has been the increasing recognition of the mental health implications for children's general well-being and health development, as well as their ability to perform well socially and educationally.

There has been an increase in children and adolescents reporting mental health problems. At the same time, there has been an increase in childhood psychiatric diagnoses. In addition, an increase in the number of children and adolescents treated with ADHD and antidepressant medicine has increased.

In the Danish municipalities, there has been an increased focus on this challenge and a number of different initiatives have been launched to promote mental health and prevent mental health problems among children and young people. A lot of resources are allocated to the area, but evidence-based research is sparse.

The American economist, James Heckmann, argues that investments in children's cognitive and social development, the sooner the better, are some of the most cost-effective investments a society can make. The sooner we identify and intervene, the more effective we can thus ensure a positive life course perspective for vulnerable children with significant public health and socio-economic benefits.

The seminar focuses on early detection of children and young people with mental problems, as well as use of "The strengths and difficulties questionnaire, SDQ" as a tool for measuring mental health in children and adolescents. Early detection, however, only makes sense with concrete action possibilities; What can we do to help these children and their families? The seminar also contains a thorough introduction to evidence-based knowledge about which interventions promote child mental health, including common factors of the most effective interventions.