Adolescence is a period of multiple changes in the body which can lead on to stress, behavioural or emotional state. Behaviour during adolescence is driven by hormonal changes like increase in growth hormone, steroid hormones etc. There is pruning of neural pathways, such that the parts of brain that are most active during adolescence are best developed and those parts that are not utilized remain under-developed later on in adulthood. Common mental disorders during adolescence are emotional disorders like anxiety disorders, depression; conduct disorders like oppositional defiant disorders; hyperkinetic disorders and other psychotic disorders. Multiple tools or questionnaires are available to apply on adolescents and children for screening as well as diagnosing them with mental disorders like Rutter Child Scale A and Rutter Child Scale B, Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), K-SADS (Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia), ISC (Interview Schedule for Children), CAS (Child Assessment Schedule), CAPA (Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Assessment), DISC (Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children) and the DICA (Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents) etc. Poverty, social disadvantage, violence, child abuse, academic failure are some of the risk factors associated with mental disorders. Prevalence of any psychiatric disorder in India is 11% and 8% among boys and girls respectively compared to US where it is 46% in the age group of 13-16 years irrespective of sex. nothing much has been achieved for adolescents under national mental health programme. Interventions like life skills education through community programs, internet or at school can help adolescents bring confidence in them and ability to cope with the stres
