ArticlePloS one2025
Gender and mental health of adolescents: A conceptual framework developed in a Delphi study.
Article in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 2 papers.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Investigating the Potential Effects of Medical AI Systems on Physician Autonomy: Pretest of a Semistructured Qualitative Interview Guide.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Correction: Gender and mental health of adolescents: A conceptual framework developed in a Delphi study.PloS one · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveAdolescence is one of the most neglected developmental phases, yet there are few phases in the life course when gender socialisation is as intense. So far, no framework or theory exists that theoretically conceptualises gender norms, gender attitudes and mental health outcomes. To address this gap, we aim to develop a conceptual framework that illustrates the interplay of key constructs in the gendered pathways of health, using the Delphi technique.
methodsWe carried out a Delphi study enrolling an international panel of 21 experts from different disciplines, with 43% of the respondents completing all three survey rounds. We asked the experts to identify core constructs (first round), suggest operationalisations of the constructs (second round), and to hypothesise about their relationships (third round). Items were included, excluded or adapted according to experts' feedback. A 70% threshold was used for consensus.
resultsThe panelists consented on the following core constructs: gender norms (social environment), sex assigned at birth, gender attitudes, gender roles, competencies, and gender identity to the mental health of adolescents. They further consented on gender approaches, namely the intersectional, multidimensional and multilevel approach as well as the power relations lens. The operationalisation of the constructs in round two led to the inclusion of variables forming an intersectional lens and four social environment levels: the household, community, political and digital level. In round three, the experts formed 14 hypotheses about the relationships between the core constructs.
conclusionThe derived conceptual framework links the interplay of six key constructs, four gender approaches and four social environment levels to adolescent mental health. Future research should validate and apply the hypothesised relationships between the constructs to disentangle the gendered pathways to (mental) health in adolescence.
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