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Understanding the Exposome

What are Mental Health and Well-being?

Within Equal-Life, mental health is defined as the presence of psychological or psychiatric illness or psychological ill health (psychopathology), whereas well-being refers to positive psychological health.
Mental health is usually assessed and defined within diagnostic systems, i.e., DSM-V and ICD-11, providing diagnoses of for example depression, anxiety or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). For younger children and adolescents, mental health can also be assessed using symptom measures (e.g., Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) or Multidimensional Peer Nomination Inventory (MNPI), assessing for instance internalising and externalising symptoms. 


Well-being is part of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) salutogenic definition of mental health: “a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community”.

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Mental Health: Includes behaviors and symptoms that may affect mental health, such as:

  • Externalizing behavior: Actions directed outward, like aggression.

  • Internalizing symptoms: Inward-focused issues, such as sadness or withdrawal.

  • Psychological distress/total difficulties: Overall emotional or psychological challenges.

  • ADHD, Autism, Anxiety, and Depression: Diagnosed conditions that impact mental health.

 

Wellbeing: Factors related to a child's general health and happiness, including:

  • General Health: Overall physical health.

  • Medically unexplained symptoms: Physical symptoms without a clear medical cause.

  • Life satisfaction and Happiness: Self-reported measures of contentment and mood.

  • Pro-social behavior: Actions that support social interaction and positive relationships

Mental health and Cognitive Development in children

Health outcomes considered in Equal-Life project are mental health and cognitive development.
Mental disorders are a major challenge globally also in young people. Many children and adolescents with these disorders remain underdiagnosed and undertreated with high individual and societal costs. Children with mental ill-health show poorer academic performance and quality of life that can compromise social and mental functioning later in life. In addition, childhood cognitive development predicts educational achievement and thus an individuals’ future professional career later in life.

School Kids Meditating
Mental Health
Wellbeing
Cognitive development
Externalizing behaviour
General Health
Selective attention
Internalizing symptoms
Medically unexplained symptoms
Inhibition
Psychological distress/ total difficulties
Life satisfaction
Working memory
ADHD
Happiness
Reasoning
Autism
Pro-social behaviour
Reading ability
Anxiety
Dyslexia
Depression
School achievement/grades

What is the Cognitive Development?

Cognition is defined as “the mental action or process of acquiring information and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses.” Cognition is thus not a unitary dimension and consists of various interrelated but separable cognitive functions.

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For cognitive development, in Equal-Life we focus on executive functions; i.e., cognitive processes that enable volitional control of goal-directed behaviour like selective attention, cognitive flexibility, working memory, reasoning, problem solving, and planning, language and literacy functions, including phonology, syntax, semantics, listening comprehension, reading, and spelling, verbal precursors of literacy (verbal short-term memory, phonological awareness) and school/academic achievement.
 

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Cognitive Development: Abilities that contribute to learning and problem-solving, including:

  • Selective attention: Ability to focus on specific stimuli.

  • Inhibition: Control over impulsive responses.

  • Working memory: Capacity to hold and manipulate information in mind.

  • Reasoning: Logical thinking and problem-solving.

  • Reading ability, Dyslexia: Skills and difficulties related to reading.

  • School achievement/grades: Academic performance in school.

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