A qualitative study of how chilean school communities understand and respond to adolescent mental health challenges

Adolescent mental health has become a central concern for school communities, which must address distress, emotional crises, requests for support, and decisions about how to assist students. This study analyzes social representations of adolescent mental health in Chilean secondary school communities, focusing on meanings, explanatory frameworks, and responses. An interpretive qualitative study was conducted based on interviews with 124 participants, including students (n = 52), teachers (n = 43), and parents/caregivers n = 29) from different regions of Chile. The material was analyzed through reflexive thematic analysis to identify patterns of meaning, nuances, and tensions among participants. The results indicate that adolescent mental health is represented both as emotional well-being and as problems, diagnoses, treatments, and specialized care. Younger generations are described as more open to recognizing and expressing distress, although adults often interpret this openness as greater fragility in the face of frustration and everyday demands. Adolescent mental health appears to be a widespread issue, although not necessarily a new one, as its increased visibility is also linked to cultural changes in the ways suffering is named, interpreted, and legitimized. Family relationships, school dynamics, and social media are identified as central contextual factors in how adolescents’ mental health is represented. The responses deemed most legitimate tend to focus on individual intervention, professional referral, and specialized care. Overall, the study shows that school communities interpret adolescent mental health through a tension: they acknowledge social and relational conditions contributing to distress, yet they primarily rely on clinical, individual, and institutionally limited responses. Clinical trial number: not applicable.