Since British Columbia declared a public health emergency in 2016 in response to the overdose crisis, over 16,000 people across the province have lost their lives to overdose.

As people in BC and around the world continue to lose loved ones, this year’s International Overdose Awareness Day focuses on bringing people together to take action under the theme “One big family, driven by hope.” This theme recognizes that overdose affects entire communities and works to break down harmful stigma that prevents people from seeking help.

Held annually on August 31, International Overdose Awareness Day is the world’s largest campaign to end overdose. It is driven by the principle that overdose is preventable, and it advocates for community-wide action. You can access campaign resources on the International Overdose Awareness Day website.

For children and youth, early intervention and substance use prevention programs are showing promise. In an article in The Conversation, researchers from the Children’s Health Policy Centre examined prevention programs that were effective in preventing opioid misuse, as well as other substance use in children and youth. Learn more.

According to the United Nations, half of the people on our planet today are 30 years old or younger. Nurturing the health and success of this significant demographic is key to solving both local and global challenges.

International Youth Day, held annually on August 12, celebrates young people’s achievements and recognizes the challenges they face. Established by the United Nations in 2000, the day also promotes meaningful youth participation in society.

This year’s event focuses on how youth contribute to their local communities and how those contributions can help support global development goals. The celebration recognizes that young people bring creativity and insight to community challenges. It advocates for including youth voices in local planning and decision-making processes.

The day also encourages local and regional governments to engage young people in policymaking and promotes mentorship opportunities to help nurture future leaders.

You can learn more about International Youth Day 2025 on the United Nations website.

The results from a Children’s Health Policy Centre systematic review suggest that some children experiencing multiple mental health concerns can be treated using a single intervention. The review looked at three different treatments — Brief Behavioral Therapy, Risk Reduction through Family Therapy (RRFT) and Multidimensional Family Therapy (MDFT). The most successful intervention, RRFT, reduced PTSD and substance use symptoms. MDFT also reduced substance use and criminal offending, according to one evaluation, although two other evaluations found benefits for behaviour but not substance use relative to comparison treatments. And while Brief Behavioral Therapy reduced anxiety symptoms and improved overall functioning, it did not outperform treatment-as-usual for depressive symptoms. For more information, see Vol. 17, No. 3 of the Children’s Mental Health Research Quarterly.

Researchers examining Multidimensional Family Therapy (MDFT) have gone beyond studying its effectiveness, which includes reducing cannabis use and other mental health concerns for young people. They have also examined the link between practitioner fidelity — or how closely clinicians follow and implement the treatment as it was originally designed — and youth outcomes. In one study, independent raters reviewed videotaped sessions from 25% of MDFT cases to ensure a range of cases and sessions for each therapist.  Researchers found that MDFT adherence ratings predicted significant decreases in both youth substance use frequency and cannabis “dependence” at six months. (Because the study began in 2006, the researchers used this older “dependence” diagnosis in some of their analyses rather than the current term, cannabis use disorder.) These findings underscore the importance of delivering effective treatments as intended. Policy-makers can support practitioners to deliver with fidelity in typical community settings, for example, by ensuring needed training is available.

For more information, see Vol. 17, No. 3 of the Children’s Mental Health Research Quarterly.

Children with multiple mental health conditions often face added challenges. Experiencing more than one mental disorder has been associated with an increased likelihood of attempting suicide and dying by suicide.

Children with concurrent disorders are also more likely to experience greater impairment overall as well as in specific situations, including at school, at home and in relationships. In addition, these children are at greater risk for experiencing poorer quality of life and more peer problems, and they are more likely to drop out of treatment and have poorer treatment responses than those with one disorder only.

These findings underscore the importance of ensuring that children with concurrent disorders receive effective treatments that address all of their mental health needs and that are delivered in a manner than encourages their ongoing engagement.

For more information, see Vol. 17, No. 3 of the Children’s Mental Health Research Quarterly.

Researchers tracked the rates of concurrent mental disorders for more than 600 Indigenous children to determine if there were changes as they reached adolescence. The children, who were living in one of eight Indigenous communities in Canada or the United States, were assessed when they were ages 10 to 12 years, and then again at ages 12 to 15. At the first time point, 9.2% met criteria for two mental disorders. By the second time point, this percentage had increased to 26.6%. This latter concurrence rate was similar to other populations of children — potentially reflecting the strength of Indigenous children, given that many faced added challenges, including limited service access and economic disadvantage.

For more information, see Vol. 17, No. 3 of the Children’s Mental Health Research Quarterly.