The mental health of children, adolescents and families has emerged as a key public priority both nationally and internationally. The World Health Organization has made mental health an absolute priority, as lifestyle changes – from digitization and social media use to economic and social pressures – are having a significant impact on the physical, mental and neurological development of young people. In Greece, these issues have for years been treated with puzzlement and lack of institutionalised intervention. The National Action comes to fill this very gap.
The National Action for Child and Family Health Promotion is an initiative of the Ministry of Health in collaboration with UNICEF Greece. It is funded by the European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Fund “Greece 2.0” (NextGenerationEU) and is implemented with the scientific guidance of academic institutions – including the Greek National University of Athens – and health professionals.
The Action is organised around four pillar programmes, each with its own identity under the single umbrella of “RISPECT”.
Pillar 1 – Child & Family Health Promotion Program (“RISPECT in Parenting”)
An integrated program that responds to the diverse needs of families through universal and targeted interventions. Family health is promoted through strengthening parenting skills to better manage the transitions and stresses of parenting, and through early detection of developmental disorders.
The program is structured around three main interventions: Providing reliable information to all families through a digital platform; integrating parental support into primary health services by strengthening the role of the paediatrician as the first point of contact; and universal and targeted intervention for mental health promotion. The programme is structured around three interrelated pillar objectives:
1 . Information & awareness of families:
Through a new digital platform, parents and caregivers can access reliable information, advice and guidance for every stage of child development from infancy to adolescence.
2. Pediatrician information & family liaison:
Pediatricians are the most constant and frequent point of contact between families and the health care system. The programme equips them with a specialised toolkit of screening tools for early identification of developmental disorders (0-12 years) and mental distress (anxiety/depression) in parents. In addition, a digital map of developmental and mental health services and a digital application for early detection and referral of families to specialized services in the community is being created.
3. Enhancing positive parenting through Triple P:
The central tool is the internationally recognised Triple P (Positive Parenting Programme). It is based on more than 35 years of international scientific research and has been implemented in over 30 countries, supporting millions of families. It is being implemented for the first time in Greece, free of charge, by certified professionals in primary health care facilities throughout the country.
Triple P targets parents and caregivers of children from infancy to adolescence, as well as families with increased or specialized needs, and is delivered through three types of interventions:
- Seminarslasting ~90 minutes with practical information and strategies for positive parenting
- Small groups of parents (5-12 participants) with weekly 8-week meetings to share experiences and gradually apply skills
- Individual sessionssupport, tailored to each family’s needs, in person, at home or remotely
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Results of pilot implementation (October 2025 – April 2026):
The pilot application was implemented by five civil society organizations (Amymoni, Society of Social Psychiatry P. Sakellaropoulos, SOS Children’s Villages, Fainareti, SolidarityNow) as well as by public sector professionals, covering Attica, Central Macedonia, Epirus, North Aegean, West Greece, Central Greece, Sterea Greece, Peloponnese, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace.
- 5.275 parentsparticipated in Triple P seminars and groups (November 2025 – March 2026)
- 231 professionalstrained and certified in the Triple P programs
Pillar 2 – Youth Self-Harm Program (“RISPECT in Your Life”)
Self-harm is the infliction of physical harm or pain on oneself in times of mental distress, emptiness, anger and other unpleasant emotions that the person is unable to cope with or deal with in appropriate ways. Self-harm is not necessarily associated with suicide attempts, but is often a form of communicating mental distress and a plea for help.
Epidemiological Data (MARC, 2025 Demographic Survey):
The data illustrate a phenomenon with a significant scope and multifaceted impact on the daily lives of young people:
- 17.6%of 17-24 year olds report self-harming or having self-harmed
- 20.3%of girls self-harm – girls appear significantly more vulnerable
- 55.5%of cases begin before the age of 16, highlighting early adolescence as a critical window of intervention
- 67.2%of young people who self-harm have a negative self-image – emotional dysregulation and negative self-concept are at the core of the phenomenon
- 62.7% have difficulty expressing themselves emotionally, which increases their vulnerability
- 72.2%report that self-harm affects their self-esteem, relationships and daily functioning
- 68.4%disclose incidents mainly to friends – not to parents or professionals
- Only 1 in 5 parents know that their child is self-harming and have talked to them about it
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This data highlights a double gap: on the one hand, disclosure takes place predominantly in the friendly rather than the family or professional context, and on the other hand, the majority of parents remain unaware. The lack of information combined with limited specialist services has so far led to many young people and their families being left without adequate support.
Aims and intervention structure:
The project aims to promote the mental health and well-being of young people, provide evidence-based therapeutic intervention, train health and mental health professionals, destigmatise the phenomenon through wider awareness-raising activities – including through the arts – and use digital tools to provide tele-psychiatric support in remote areas.
Model Community Center for Youth Mental Health:
At the heart of the program’s operational structure is the Model Community Center for Youth Mental Health (17-24 years old), which operates in Athens and provides free, comprehensive prevention, diagnosis, support and treatment services. Services include individual and group psychoanalytic psychotherapy, psycho-educational and psychotherapeutic family intervention, parent support groups, art therapies, and tele-conferencing support for young people outside of Athens. The Centre also has a modern information system for case tracking and interfacing with other public mental health facilities, and implements training for professionals through e-learning to enhance early identification and referral capacity.
Pillar 3 – Health & Hygiene Period Program (“RISPECT in Your Body”)
Period is a normal biological process that affects more than 1.8 billion girls and women worldwide every month. Although it is an integral part of life, it is still surrounded by misconceptions, lack of information and – in many cases – inadequate access to essential commodities. This negatively affects adolescents’ psychosocial development, self-esteem and school engagement, and in many cases stigma and exclusion is observed.
Epidemiological Data (MARC, 2026 Demographic Survey):
The data captures a phenomenon with strong social, economic and educational dimensions:
- 90.3%of girls and 86% of boys consider health and hygiene information about the school period useful – these percentages highlight a clear interest and need for more systematic integration into the educational context
- 63.9%of girls believe that information should start as early as primary school, so that attitudes of respect and equality are cultivated from an early age
- 24.4%of girls say they are experiencing or have experienced difficulty in meeting the cost of period products – financial access remains a significant barrier
- 91.8%of girls and 78.3% of boys think schools should provide free period products
- 51.6%of girls say that menstruation is only discussed between girls or women – silence is reproduced and makes open dialogue difficult
- 29.3%of girls report that discussions around periods are often accompanied by ironic comments or teasing from boys – behaviors that perpetuate stereotypes and reinforce feelings of shame
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Project objectives:
The program is organized around three axes: Promoting the health and well-being of adolescent girls, informing and raising awareness of the entire school community (students, teachers, parents), and ensuring equal access to period products in schools throughout the country. The overall goal is to remove prejudice and empower girls to manage their periods with knowledge, dignity and confidence.
Implementation activities:
The programme is implemented through a coherent grid of actions covering all levels of the school community:
- Free distribution of period productsto all girls attending the information sessions
- Live information sessionsfor 5th and 6th grade students, as well as for high school students throughout Greece
- Informational meetings for parents/caregivers and teachers, aimed at strengthening supportive dialogue around menstruation
- Synchronous distance learningfor teachers, school nurses, psychologists and social workers in remote, mountainous and island areas, as well as in School Units for Special Education and Training (SSEE)
- Psphere Platformwith free educational packages for children, teenagers, parents and teachers – e-books, videos, interactive activities and lesson guides per target group
Pillar 4 – Doomscrolling (“RISPECT in Your Life”)
Doomscrolling is defined as the impulsive, prolonged consumption of negative news content – often via social media feeds – that maintains or intensifies anxiety, malaise and feelings of threat. In adolescence and young adulthood (12-25 years), when the brain and psychosocial skills are in a phase of rapid maturation, this habit is associated with indicators of psychological distress and changes in the regulation of attention, reward, and stress (Paulus et al., 2023).
The term emerged in the mid-2010s and was widely established during the COVID-19 pandemic, initially describing the constant, anxious consumption of negative news related to crises and social threats (Satici et al., 2023). In recent years, the concept has been broadened to include any form of compulsive or self-destructive scrolling, regardless of the nature of the content. The research literature highlights that doomscrolling constitutes an attentional trap mechanism that is amplified by platform algorithms, causing a sense of loss of control, fatigue, and psychological distress (Sharma, Lee, & Johnson, 2022). Approaches such as that of McLaughlin, Gotlieb and Mills (2023) speak of problematic news consumption, placing the phenomenon within a broader spectrum of addictive digital behaviours characterised by repetition, anxious information seeking and difficulty disconnecting.
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As part of the National Action, the programme focuses on raising awareness among young people, parents and teachers about the effects of digital overconsumption, fostering critical digital behaviour and providing practical tools for dealing with it.
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