Psychological and Neural Foundations of Adolescent Mental Health

Submission Deadline: 01 July 2026 View: 209 Submit to Special Issue

Guest Editors

Prof. Dr. Yanling Liu

Email: ssq@swu.edu.cn

Affiliation: Faculty of Psychology, Research Center of Mental Health Education, Southwest University, Chongqing, China

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Research Interests: mental health education; new media and adolescent mental health

Dr. Shuai Chen

Email: chenshuai@m.scnu.edu.cn

Affiliation: School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China

Homepage:

Research Interests: mental health; internet addiction; video game use; longitudinal study

Summary

Adolescence is a critical period in individual development, marked by significant brain neuroplasticity, hormonal changes, and increasingly complex psychosocial challenges. Today's adolescents are growing up in a unique era, influenced by factors such as the proliferation of digital media and heightened academic pressure. The rising prevalence of mental disorders among adolescents globally has made this an important public health issue. This special issue aims to gather innovative research to deepen the understanding of risk and protective factors of adolescent mental health and social adjustment, as well as the underlying neurobiological and psychological mechanisms.

Potential themes include, but are not limited to:
1. The impact of early adversity on adolescent development.
2. Individual and contextual protective factors in coping with stress and adversity.
3. Digital media use and adolescent psychosocial development.
4. Neurobiological foundations of mental disorders in adolescents.

We invite scholars in related fields to submit original research articles or reviews. We particularly encourage submissions employing diverse methodologies—such as neuroimaging, scales, and behavioral experiments—to foster a comprehensive bio-psycho-social understanding of adolescent development.

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