Emotional problems such as anxiety and depression affect up to 30% of the adolescents in the general population. In addition to being prevalent, anxiety and depression co-occur frequently with numerous other psychiatric disorders such as with substance use disorders. When left untreated, anxiety and depression which begin early in life tend to become chronic and are often associated with a long-term negative course and outcome. Although numerous factors have been identified as putting young people at risk for developing anxiety and depression, little is known about the extent to which they can be generalized to young people who live in other cultures. In this lecture, I will present findings of some of our recent cross-cultural studies with particular focus on mental health literacy. I will also present our transdiagnostic treatment protocol (“Super Skills 4 Life”) for young people with emotional problems, some findings and discuss its transportability to diverse cultures.

Cecilia A. Essau, Ph.D., was born and raised in the tropical jungle of Borneo Island. She received her early education in Sarawak, Malaysia. She obtained her Master of Arts degree from Lakehead University (Canada), her Ph.D. from the University of Konstanz (Germany), and her post-doctoral degree in Psychology (“Habilitation”: Professorial qualification in Germany) from the University of Bremen (Germany). She has held a number of academic positions in Canadian, Austrian, and German universities before joining Roehampton University in 2004 as a Professor of Developmental Psychopathology. At Roehampton, she is also the Director of “Centre for Applied Research and Assessment in Child and Adolescent Wellbeing”. Professor Essau has received research grants from numerous national and international institutions, including the German Research Council; Ministry of Education, Science, Arts, and Sport (Bremen); German Academic Exchange Services; American Council of Learned Societies; Polish Committee for Scientific Research; Dr. Karl-Wilder-Stiftung; Hong Kong Research Council; Danish Ministry of Education; Hungarian Scholarship Board; Schneider- Sasakawa-Fund/Nippon Foundation; The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science; The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation; British Academy; Williams Syndrome Foundation; Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation; The British Council; The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills; and The Department for Innovations, Universities & Skills. Her research has focused on understanding the interacting factors that can lead children to have serious emotional and behavioural problems and using this research to (a) enhance the assessment of childhood psychopathology and (b) design more effective interventions to prevent and treat such problems. She has published more than 160 articles in either peer- reviewed journals/book chapters in edited volumes, and 12 books.